In two executive memoranda, President Donald J. Trump directed the U.S. Department of the Treasury to review key elements of the Dodd-Frank post-crisis regulation. The memoranda authorizes the Treasury Secretary to review (i) the processes of the Financial Stability Oversight Council ("FSOC") for designating "systemically important" institutions, and (ii) the Orderly Liquidation Authority ("OLA") including a review of potentially adverse consequences posed by the framework.
In a statement, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said that during the review process, the Treasury will not designate any new non-bank financial institutions as systemically important under the FSOC. The goal of the review, he said, is to "make this a smarter, more effective process that reduces the kinds of systemic risk that harmed so many Americans during the financial crisis of 2008."
Secretary Mnuchin said that the review of the OLA will attempt to determine (i) whether the OLA is encouraging "inappropriate risk-taking," (ii) "the extent of taxpayer liability," and (iii) how the bankruptcy code "may be a more appropriate avenue of resolving financial distress."
President Trump remarked:
"I'm . . . issuing two directives that instruct Secretary Mnuchin to review the damaging Dodd-Frank regulations that failed to hold Wall Street firms accountable. . . . These regulations enshrine 'too big to fail' and encourage risky behavior."
Commentary / Steven Lofchie
Politically, these executive actions are promoted as being for the purpose of holding Wall Street accountable. The larger benefit they provide is to put a check on the very broad discretionary powers afforded the government under Dodd-Frank. These executive actions move financial regulation back toward a system of rules governed by written procedures and not by grants of broad discretion.
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