It was the Senate Banking Committee’s turn to note the one year anniversary of the signing of the Dodd-Frank law. But the hearing was hardly a celebration among members. Chairman Tim Johnson sounded a theme of “much done – more to do.” Ranking GOP member Richard Shelby raised the political stakes by claiming slower than expected economic growth with passage of the new law. Senator Shelby spent a considerable portion of his opening statement saying the Republicans were essentially not involved in the passage of the legislation and the GOP would not accept any blame for the failure of the Obama administration to stimulate economic growth.
House Financial Services top Democrat Barney Frank was the hearing’s first witness. Frank’s rebuttal of Senate Shelby’s criticism sparked a energetic discussion of the major provisions of the new law. They agreed only to try to work more closely on outstanding issues, such as the reform of the secondary mortgage market.
The second panel consisted of senior officials from federal financial regulatory agencies. All detailed their progress to date on finalizing rulemaking.
