Client Alert
The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act: Overview and Implementation
July 15, 2010
Kevin L. Petrasic
The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (Dodd-Frank Act) represents the single most important and comprehensive piece of financial system reform legislation since the myriad reforms following the Great Depression. With the primary goal to restore responsibility and accountability in our financial system to give Americans confidence that there is a system in place that works for and protects them, the Dodd-Frank Act will have broad impact on the financial services industry for years to come. The Act includes significant reforms and refinements to modernize existing laws to address emerging risks and issues in our evolving financial system. It also establishes entirely new regulatory regimes, including in areas such as systemic risk regulation, over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives market oversight, and Federal consumer protection.
All participants of our financial services and banking industries are affected with some industry segments and firms substantially impacted by the Dodd-Frank Act reforms. The spectrum of affected participants includes banks, thrifts, depository institution holding companies, mortgage lenders, insurance companies, industrial loan companies, broker-dealers and other securities and investment advisory firms, private equity and hedge funds, consumers, and numerous federal agencies and the federal regulatory structure.
This StayCurrent bulletin provides an overview of the major provisions addressed by the Dodd-Frank Act, as well as issues and considerations in connection with the regulatory process that will be required for implementation of the Act. This bulletin is the first in a series that discusses the complexities and challenges in implementing the various provisions and issues of the Act.