Congress Passes Financial Reform
The Financial Reform bill has been passed by both houses of Congress and now awaits President Obama's signature. When the President signs his name, the new law will be the biggest improvement to regulation of the financial industry in generations. It's a big change with a lot to it, but reigning in Wall Street and the excesses of finance will not be accomplished with one new law alone. But for now, it's time to celebrate what truly is an historic victory.
Of the many good things in the final package, the new consumer protections may be the sweetest. The new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau made it through in a reasonably strong form, and has a chance to truly protect consumers from many of the abuses that plumped up bank profits and bonuses at the expense of the public. Members of UFE and our Responsible Wealth project deserve to be particularly proud for standing up for the consumer financial protection in this bill.
Chris Sturr at Dollars and Sense (a magazine you should subscribe to if you don't already) runs down some more details. He links to an excellent explanation of what's in the bill, what got cut out, and what never even had a chance.
Some more reactions:
- Shahien Nasiripour (who has also become a must read) teams with Ryan Grim at the Huffington Post for a wrap up on passage of financial reform.
- Ezra Klein highlights some of the positives.
- Simon Johnson is hard to please, but he sees some encouraging similarities to past regulatory efforts.
- And Kevin Drum made a good the case for the bill when it's passage was still, at least somewhat, in doubt.