By: J. Preston Carter, J.D., LL.M.
Five years after passage of the Dodd-Frank Act, a report released by Democratic staff on the Financial Services Committee has concluded that while Dodd-Frank has been successful in the face of partisan attack, more must be done to ensure all Americans can benefit from the economic recovery. “Five years and nearly 13 million jobs later, the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform Act has put our nation on a path to economic recovery,” said Ranking Member Maxine Waters (D-Calif), who requested the report. “The financial crisis represented the worst financial disaster in a generation. And in the face of relentless Republican attempts to roll back these critical reforms, Democrats remain committed to fighting to protect American consumers from the worst actors in our financial system,” Waters continued.
Meanwhile, a new Public Citizen report—Dodd Frank is Five: And Still Not Allowed Out of the House—says it documents “poor implementation of the law. Of the 390 rules required by the law, fewer than two-thirds have been completed; 60 rules have yet to be finalized, while another 83 have not even been proposed, according to the report.
“Dodd-Frank promised that America would never again be held hostage by banks that are too big to fail, but that promise remains unfulfilled,” the report finds. “Instead, industry-captured regulators and members of Congress hungry for campaign contributions from Wall Street continue to delay and dilute the law.”
Nor is the Competitive Enterprise Institute celebrating the birthday: “It is not a happy anniversary,” according to a CEI release. According to its report—How Dodd-Frank Harms Main Street—the reforms were intended to protect Main Street and consumers from financial predation by Wall Street. “Instead, it has meant reduced access to credit for small businesses and fewer choices for consumers, while doing little to punish the main culprits in the financial crisis.”
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