Crenshaw Statement on Five-Year Anniversary of Dodd-Frank

Statement

Congressman Ander Crenshaw, Chairman of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government, today (7/21) issued the following statement on the five-year anniversary of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act being signed into law:

"Anniversaries often provide an opportunity to celebrate, but such is not the case on the five-year anniversary of Dodd-Frank. Rather than provide positive pro-growth tools, the 2,300 page, wieldy law has created layer-upon-layer of costly regulatory burdens, opened the horizon to unending marketplace uncertainty, and dampened competition within financial industry.

"While some degree of financial regulation is necessary to protect consumers and the markets, Dodd-Frank has done nothing more than shackle the nation's financial system, including Main Street community banks, credit unions, and small businesses, at a time when it must be free to grow and expand. Steps are being taken to correct course, but more work is needed.

"That's why, as Chairman of the Financial Services Appropriations Subcommittee, I led the fight to make the Consumer Financial Protections Bureau subject to the appropriations process and require extensive reports on its progress. Authorized as an independent agency under Dodd-Frank, I believe the Bureau is regulating faster and farther reaching than all other financial regulators. As such, additional congressional oversight is needed to provide appropriate checks and balances on this agency. With a potential to significantly affect access to credit and impact the operations of banks, credit unions, and asset managers, the Bureau must be held to a higher degree of accountability regarding its operations and expenses.

"As part of our Committee-passed Fiscal Year 2016 Financial Services and General Government Appropriations Bill, we also require the Securities and Exchange Commission to conduct a thorough report on my concerns that Dodd-Frank and other wholesale layers of regulations have resulted in an alarming lack of liquidity in U.S. markets. In addition, we provide asset managers and insurance companies an opportunity to change their business model before being designated by the Financial Stability Oversight Council as systemically important, or better known as, "too big to fail.' More importantly, however, we give financial institutions the opportunity to mitigate the risk the Council believes they pose to the global economy."

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