The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (the “Act”), signed into law by President Obama on July 21, 2010, created a major overhaul of the financial industry. For years, advocates have praised the benefits of financial reform and promoted legislation that would provide such reform. Specifically, these advocates have focused their support on consumer protection legislation. The Act addresses many of these concerns by creating an entirely new regulatory regime with the purpose of “ensuring that all consumers have access to markets for consumer financial products and services and that markets for consumer financial products and services are fair, transparent, and competitive.” This paper describes the new regime and its powers and analyzes the effectiveness of the new bureau, which is still in its early stages... [Read more!]

The Financial Services & E-Commerce Practice Group hosted this panel on "Will Consumers and the Economy Benefit from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau?" on Friday, November 11, 2011, during the 2011 National Lawyers Convention. The panel featured Mr. David Berenbaum of the National Community Reinvestment Coalition; Mr. Leonard J. Kennedy of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau; Mr. Alex J. Pollock of the American Enterprise Institute; Prof. Todd J. Zywicki of George Mason University School of Law; and Judge Timothy M. Tymkovich of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit as the moderator.

The much-debated Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 imposed significant cash expenses and compliance budens on U.S. public companies, which were disproportionately heavy on smaller companies and much bigger than expected. This is a matter of fact. The problem was recognized by the Dodd-Frank Act of 2010, of which Section 989G permanently exempted companies with a market capitalization held by non-affiliates of less than $75 million from the requirements of Section 404(b). Congressman Ben Quayle and several co-sponors introduced a bill on September 15, 2011, the "Startup Expansion and Investment Act," HR 2941, with the goal of further reducing the regulatory burden of Sarbanes-Oxley, and making conversion to a U.S. public company more attractive.

On October 6, 2011, the Piedmont Triad Lawyers Chapter of the Federalist Society hosted an event featuring The Honorable C. Boyden Gray of Gray & Schmitz and former White House Counsel to President George H.W. Bush. The topic of the address was "Legal and Constitutional Issues Concerning the Dodd-Frank Act". Introduction by Mr. Robert T. Numbers of Womble Carlyle.