Congress has passed what many observers consider the most sweeping financial and regulatory reform since the passage of the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act in 1999. The legislation delivers "much-needed regulatory relief to Main Street banks and credit unions. This bill takes a major step toward allowing the banking system to serve the needs of American businesses and American families instead of working in the interest of Washington bureaucracy," said Jeb Hensarling (R-TX), chairman of the House Financial Services Committee.
While the legislation received support from both sides of the aisle, some Democrats Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH), ranking member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, was an outspoken opponent of the legislation and the signing of S.2155, or the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act.
He condemned the bill, which he derides as the The Dodd-Frank Roll Back Bill because in Brown's view it does next to nothing for consumers, while scaling back protections for homeowners and exposing taxpayers to another bank bailout, according to a press release.
“Today, special interests win again. The President signed into law a giveaway that loosens rules for the same big banks that helped crash the economy a decade ago, leaving Americans taxpayers responsible for a $239 billion bailout," said Brown. "Banks are making record profits and hardworking Americans shouldn’t have to pay for favors to Wall Street, foreign mega-banks and their lobbyists.”
The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimated that S.2155 will increase the federal deficit by $671 million because of the increased risk that a systemically important financial institution – a Wall Street or global mega-bank -- will fail.
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President Trump signs financial regulatory reform bill.[/caption]
Hensarling views the new legislation as a stepping stone and he called for "an additional package of bipartisan pro-growth capital formation provisions to unleash the full potential of our economy.”
issued the following statement upon attending a signing ceremony at the White House for S. 2155, which represents the most significant pro-growth financial regulatory reform package since the passage of Gramm-Leach-Bliley nearly a generation ago.
"Thanks to hard work and leadership in both the House and the Senate, this pro-growth, bipartisan package will provide much-needed regulatory relief to Main Street banks and credit unions. This bill takes a major step toward allowing the banking system to serve the needs of American businesses and American families instead of working in the interest of Washington bureaucracy. I look forward to continuing to work with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle and in both chambers to build on the progress we achieved here with an additional package of bipartisan pro-growth capital formation provisions to unleash the full potential of our economy.”
