New Banking Law Takes First Step In Rolling Back Dodd-Frank Reforms

On May 24, 2018, President Trump signed into law the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act (the “Act”), marking the first set of much anticipated roll-backs of the Dodd-Frank Act of 2010. Although heralded in the media as a dramatic step away from regulatory reforms introduced by Dodd-Frank, the changes included in the Act will generally have the greatest impact on small banks. However, in the coming weeks, financial regulators are expected to unveil proposed revisions to the Volcker Rule regulations that are expected to have a more significant impact on large banking institutions.

Some of the Act’s more noteworthy changes include removal of certain Volcker Rule limitations on hedge fund and private equity fund naming conventions, the exemption of most small banks from the purview of the Volcker Rule, reduced regulatory burdens for small and medium-sized bank holding companies, changes favorably affecting custodial banks’ supplementary