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May 23, 2018

Congress Passes Sweeping Bill to Roll Back Dodd-Frank Act Regulations
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On Capitol Hill, Congress passed sweeping legislation to exempt
thousands of banks from key regulations in the 2010 Dodd-Frank Wall
Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, meaning the vast majority of
banks will no longer have to follow the regulations aimed at preventing
another financial meltdown. The Dodd-Frank Act was passed after the 2008
economic crisis, which was provoked by years of risky lending by Wall
Street banks.

Yet, in a rare bipartisan effort Tuesday, House lawmakers voted 258 to
159 to exempt banks with less than $250 billion in assets from many of
these regulations, even though banks' profits are soaring. A report
issued Tuesday from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation said the
net income of banks and saving institutions hit $56 billion in the first
quarter of this year-a 27 percent increase from a year ago. Thirty-three
Democrats joined their Republican counterparts in voting for the
financial regulation rollback, which, if signed into law, would leave
fewer than 10 banks in the U.S. subject to stricter federal oversight.
We'll have more on the regulation rollback later in the broadcast.


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