0
0
The headline read: “President Trump Signs Order to Start Dismantling Dodd-Frank.” Say what?
Dodd-Frank is a law passed by Congress. To dismantle it, as reported, would take an Act of Congress as well. This is not something that can be changed by any President with the stroke of a pen.
So, let’s take a closer look at what the President actually did. With the details of the order not yet public, what we do know is that President Trump instructed the Secretary of the Department of the Treasury to review the existing law to make recommendations for changes. Such changes could range from changing some parts of the law, up to and including, complete repeal. At present, we just don’t know.
Everyone wants to speculate on what the order means to the Law and for the CFPB (the agency that regulated it) as well as most other rules governing financial institutions. It will all depend on the recommendations made by Treasury for changes, and what changes Congress decides to make.
Banks are looking for relief from what they believe to be burdensome regulations, Credit Unions want to be left alone, and mortgage lenders are concerned that more changes may end up costing them more money.
As I’ve said in many a prior post, how you see the play all depends on your viewing angle. Each group has its own wants and needs. All will be vying to protect their interests in any changes.
As it is with anything these days in Washington, DC, Republicans will see any changes as positive, while their counterparts on the Democrat side will see just the opposite.
For now, let’s not get all caught up on any major changes to Dodd-Frank or the CFPB in the near future. The most we might hope for is some relief from overbearing enforcement actions that we’ve experienced in last few years.
Otherwise, I believe most mortgage lenders have come to grips with the new disclosure and fee tolerance regulations and would rather move on. Of course, we can live with some minor tweaking and clarifications already in the works under CFPB’s proposal for TRID changes. The last thing we need is more changes that would end up needing new or modified disclosure forms, requiring more system and programming changes.
I just hope that this time around everyone takes a step back and takes the time to carefully analyze the rules to make changes that are better for consumers and the financial services industry. Let’s not look for a quick fix, let’s hope for the right fix.
In the meantime, we still got some lending to do…
