Dodd-Frank Overhaul Plan Goes before Financial Services Committee
The House Financial Services Committee will meet Sept. 13 to mark up a bill that would overturn major provisions of the Dodd-Frank Act. Initially proposed in June by Financial Services Committee Chairman Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas), the Financial CHOICE Act would strip significant authority away from the CFPB, renaming it the Consumer Financial Opportunity Commission and tasking the agency with the dual mission of protecting consumers and ensuring competitive markets. The commission would be led by a five-member board, rather than a single director, and would be monitored by an independent inspector general. The proposal also would raise limits on interchange fees for payment card transactions, among other measures.
Analysts don’t believe the bill will make it through Congress. However, it could serve as a springboard for efforts to reform Dodd-Frank next year. Congressional Republicans have long been hostile to the financial reform law passed in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis, saying it imposes too many rules and costs on financial firms and results in limited services for consumers. Last year, Senate Banking Committee Chairman Richard Shelby (R-Ala.) introduced a plan to reform Dodd-Frank, including measures to reduce the number of banks deemed “too big to fail,” among other provisions.
Opponents of Hensarling’s proposal include the National Retail Federation. The merchant trade group said the CHOICE Act would reinstitute “price fixing” by card companies, threaten small business owners and slow hiring and expansion.
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