President Trump announced on Friday that he will be revisiting financial regulations enacted by the Obama administration after the 2008 economic crisis.
After meeting with Wall Street and other executives, Trump signed a directive saying his administration will take a fresh look at the Dodd-Frank Act, The New York Times reports. The Dodd-Frank Act, according to Tech Target, is a federal law that places regulation of the financial industry in the government’s hands, and aims to prevent another financial crisis by creating regulations that enforce “transparency and accountability.” The act regulates banks and breaks up any that are “too big to fail.”
Trump wants to get the throughts of federal regulatory agencies on how the Dodd-Frank Act can be reformed, CNN reports. “Everything is going to be looked at,” said a senior Trump administration official.
In addition, Trump signed another directive that will temporarily stop and potentially overhaul a rule created by the Labor Department under the Obama administration, called the Fiduciary Rule, that required brokers to act in their client’s best interest when providing retirement advice, instead of just trying to get the highest possible profits for themselves. Basically, it’s a rule that makes people actually help others instead of only putting themselves first.
Now, the Labor Department will have ninety days to reevaluate the rule and report back, and will have the final say on whether the rule is enacted, CNN reports.
Trump’s directives will most likely draw criticism from those who argued that the Dodd-Frank Act didn’t go far enough in regulating Wall Street after the financial crisis.