Legislative Activity

Is Dodd-Frank on the Chopping Block Next Congress?

With President-Elect Donald Trump in the White House and Republicans in control of both the House and Senate, we believe there is a real possibility for a significant overhaul of financial services regulation in the 115th Congress – especially if future Chairman of the Senate Banking Committee Mike Crapo (R-ID) is willing to work with committee Democrats to find middle ground. Though there had been discussion of potentially seeking to pass certain targeted reforms during the lame duck session (e.g., reforms dealing with Financial Stability Oversight Council, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, etc.), it now appears that Republicans will instead hold off on such efforts until 2017.

In the interim, and as the debate over Dodd-Frank continues to play out, financial regulators will work to finish implementing the 398 rulemakings required by the Act – at least until such time when (if) the Trump Administration freezes work on pending regulations, an idea that has been floated during the campaign. In fact, in his “Contract with the American Voter,” President- Elect Trump has gone further: he has promised to implement “a requirement that for every new federal regulation, two existing regulations must be eliminated.”

See Squire Patton Boggs’ Post-Election Analysis for more on what may be to come next Congress.

This Week’s Hearings:

  • On Tuesday, November 15, the House Financial Services Committee will hold a hearing titled “Examining the SEC’s Agenda, Operations, and FY2018 Budget Request.” The witness will be:
    • The Honorable Mary Jo White, Chair, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission
  • On Wednesday, November 16, the House Financial Services Subcommittee on Housing and Insurance will hold a hearing titled “Modernizing Appraisals: A Regulatory Review and the Future of the Industry.”
  • On Thursday, November 17, the Joint Economic Committee will hold a hearing titled “The Economic Outlook.” The witness will be:
    • The Honorable Janet L. Yellen, Chair Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System

Regulatory Activity

SEC, CFTC, FDIC to Hold Meetings

This week, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) will hold several meetings, including:

  • On Monday, November 14, the SEC will hold a Fintech Forum to discuss financial technology innovation in the financial services industry.
  • On Tuesday, November 15, the SEC will meet to consider whether to approve a proposed national market system (NMS) plan to create, implement, and maintain a consolidated audit trail, submitted pursuant to Rule 613 of Regulation NMS.
  • On Thursday, November 17, the SEC will hold the SEC Government-Business Forum on Small Business Capital Formation to discuss how capital formation options are working for small businesses after the implementation of the JOBS Act.

Additionally, on Thursday, November 17, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s (CFTC) Market Risk Advisory Committee will meet to discuss: (1) the CCP Risk Management Subcommittee (CRM) will present its final recommendations on how Central Counterparties (CCPs) can further enhance their efforts in preparing for the default of a significant clearing member; and (2) the Bank of England’s coordinated CCP default fire drill.

On Tuesday, November 15, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) will meet to consider: (1) the disposition of minutes of previous Board of Directors’ Meetings; (2) a memorandum and resolution re: Notice of Proposed Rulemaking: Removing Former OTS Rule Part 390 Subpart I and Revising FDIC Rule Part 343 (Consumer Protections in the Sale of Insurance); (3) a memorandum and resolution re: Interim Final Rule Amending the FDIC’s Freedom of Information Act Regulations at 12 C.F.R. §309.2 (Definitions), 12 C.F.R. §309.4 (Publicly available records) and 12 C.F.R. §309.5 (Procedures for requesting records); and (4) reports of the Office of Inspector General.