Taking A Look At The Dodd-Frank Act

Submitted By chenxiaoyu
Words: 534
Pages: 3

Introduction The United States experienced the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression, the loss of 8 million jobs, failed businesses, a drop in housing prices, and wiped out personal savings. As a result, the Dodd-Frank Act aims to restore responsibility and accountability in the financial system that would create a sound economic foundation to grow jobs, protect consumers, rein in Wall Street big bonuses, end bailouts and to big to fail. Legislators realized that the existing supervision mechanism was inadequate in addressing the underlying interest conflicts that result from the growing interconnectedness of financial industry on a global scale. Highlights of the Act Commentators have noted that without a governing body to oversee all agencies that regulate various financial institutions, the system remains vulnerable to regulatory gaps and oversight failures. The Dodd-Frank Act establishes the Financial Stability Oversight Council to overhaul varying rules and standards that led to certain entities not being regulated at all, with others subject to less oversight than their peer financial firms organized under different charters. Also, the Office of Financial Research is created among other entities to study the interconnectedness and conflicts of interests within the system and to identify potential systemic risks. For instance, thrift holding companies will be under stricter regulatory rules to ensure investors interests. In January 2010, the Obama Administration endorsed the Volcker Rule. The Senate bill imposed a prohibition on most proprietary trading by U.S. banks and their affiliates, subject to limited exceptions, and restricted covered institutions from owning, sponsoring or investing in hedge funds or private equity funds. Discussions relating to the Volcker Rule were among the most heated. Title VII of the Dodd-Frank Act, also to be known as the Wall Street Transparency and Accountability Act of 2010, will impose a comprehensive and far-reaching regulatory regime on derivatives and market participants, including Lincoln Provision (the “Swaps Pushout” Rule). The financial crisis took many investors by surprise. It became clear that investors in certain financial