Dodd-Frank Repeal Also Targets Corruption-Fighting Measure

President Donald Trump is taking aim at federal rules and regulations that he and his Republican allies claim place undue burdens on business. One of his first acts will be to sign an order to unravel the 2010 Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. This sweeping law, enacted during the Barack Obama administration, created a consumer protection agency and reined in risky aspects of derivatives and mortgage lending in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis.

In June 2016 the Securities and Exchange Commission finalized an additional bipartisan provision, “Disclosure of Payments by Resource Extraction Issuers,” which required U.S.-traded companies to disclose payments at or above $100,000 made to foreign governments for rights to commercial development of oil, natural gas or minerals. The regulation, requiring compliance by 2018, was approved along with measures for tougher standards for coal mining.