On Friday, President Donald Trump signed an executive action to scale back the 2010 Dodd-Frank financial-overhaul law, in a sweeping plan to dismantle much of the regulatory system put in place after the financial crisis.
The order won’t have any immediate impact. But it directs the Treasury secretary to consult with members of different regulatory agencies and the Financial Stability Oversight Council and report back on potential changes.
“There are quite a few things that we could do on Dodd-Frank … that we think will have fairly immediate and dramatic impact,” the official said, including personnel changes at regulatory agencies and additional executive orders.
That likely includes a review of the CFPB, which vastly expanded regulators’ ability to police consumer products — from mortgages to credit cards to student loans. Trump administration officials, like other critics, argue Dodd-Frank did not achieve what it set out to do and portray it as an example of massive government over-reach.
Also on Friday, Trump signed a presidential memorandum that instructs the Labour Department to delay implementing the so-called “fiduciary rule” – an Obama-era rule that requires financial professionals who charge commissions to put their clients’ best interests first when giving advice on retirement investments.
The “fiduciary rule” was aimed at blocking financial advisers from steering clients toward investments with higher commissions and fees that can eat away at retirement savings.
The retirement advice rule was issued by the Obama administration and was set to take effect in April. It has been staunchly opposed by the financial services industry, who argued the rule limits retirees’ investment choices by forcing asset managers to steer them to the lowest-risk options.
Opponents of the rule argued that the rule would result in high costs that will ultimately make small accounts unprofitable.
While some lawsuits were filed against the rule, companies like Bank of America Corp’s Merrill Lynch and Morgan Stanley had announced plans to cooperate with the rule. The Labour Department had estimated that it could cost firms as much as $31 billion over the next decade to comply.
Adedapo Adesanya