Dodd-Frank Act Summary

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Following the financial crisis of 2008, which was due in part to low regulation and high reliance on large banks, it was necessary to subject banks to more stringent regulation. Consequently, the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, or the Dodd-Frank Act was enacted July 2010 “To promote the financial stability of the United States by improving accountability and transparency in the financial system, to end ‘‘too big to fail’’, to protect the American taxpayer by ending bailouts, to protect consumers from abusive financial services practices, and for other purposes” (Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act). The Dodd-Frank Act is a financial reform legislation that was established to create financial …show more content…
The Federal Reserve addressed the issue of such risk-based practices through setting new capital and liquidity requirements. The standards for the capital that depository institutions must retain to protect against their exposures was adjusted through the new requirements. The expectation was that banks could remain stable significantly longer, without becoming dependent on the radical government bailouts, in the case that this occurs …show more content…
However, the Volcker Rule was not initially included in President Barack Obama's original June 2009 proposal, it was later in January 2010 that Obama proposed the rule, after the House bill had passed. Due actions such as proprietary trading activities, commercial banks faced losses that placed depositors’ fund, and in turn taxpayers’ money, at risk. To counteract this the government enacted the Volcker Rule, which’s purpose was to regulate proprietary trading activity, in turn preventing losses that placed taxpayers’ money, at risk. Similar to the Glass-Steagall Act of 1933, which was partially repealed in 1999, which established a divide between commercial banking and investment banking. The Volcker Rule places restraints on banks’ ability to invest in hedge and private equity