WASHINGTON–Prior to, during and after a hearing in Congress this week to review the effects of the massive Dodd-Frank legislation 15 years after it was passed, efforts, bills and arguments in favor of repealing much of the legislation’s provisions have been made.
As the CU Daily reported earlier here, the House Committee on Financial Services held a hearing titled, “Dodd-Frank Turns 15: Lessons Learned and the Road Ahead.” What those lessons are and what the road ahead might look like depends on the political party.
The committee’s chairman, Rep. French Hill (R-AR), said in his opening statement, “Dodd-Frank was sold to the American people as a sweeping fix to prevent another crisis, yet over time it has become clear that this approach has not delivered as promised for Main Street.
What History Shows
“Instead, history shows that it punished community financial institutions through its one-size-fits-all mandates, shifted activity outside the banking system, created new and unaccountable agencies like the CFPB, and prioritized duplicative compliance and regulation by enforcement over actual consumer protection,” Hill continued.
“These smaller institutions did not cause the crisis, but they have been forced to navigate new compliance burdens and divert resources away from serving their communities and toward satisfying Washington bureaucrats,” Hill added.
Bill Filed, Letters Sent
More than three-dozen bills have been filed to roll back Dodd Frank.
Meanwhile, the CU trade groups sent letters to the committee urging Congress to dial back the legislation.
In its letter, in which it stresses credit unions were not the reason for the 2008 crisis, America’s Credit Unions called for reforms and targeted outlines how Dodd-Frank has affected credit unions over the past 15 years.
ACU further said its letter offered a “forward-looking roadmap to ensure community-based financial institutions like credit unions can continue serving members without being subject to rules designed for Wall Street.”
The full letter can be found here.
DCUC Letter
The Defense CU Council said in its letter that credit unions recognize the need for financial safeguards and consumer protections, the regulatory but the burdens imposed by Dodd-Frank have “disproportionately impacted small, mission-driven institutions.”
The full letter can be found here.
