Trump's Plan for Financial Reform Is Half-Right

The Trump administration’s latest plan to reform financial regulation starts in a very good place: It attacks the ridiculous complexity of the current system. But it fails to follow through with new rules that promote safety as well as simplicity. Put into practice, it could be a big step backwards.

The Treasury Department’s new report is right to complain that the U.S. regulatory structure is far too unwieldy. The system consists of more than a dozen agencies with huge blind spots and overlapping duties that often border on the absurd. A single community bank, for example, might answer to four different supervisors.