Key takeaways

• Following the recent election, a Trump Administration and Republican majorities in the House and Senate likely herald a new era of de-regulation in the financial sector. An important target of regulatory reform is the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010, which has been repeatedly criticized by President-elect Trump. Although a wholesale repeal of Dodd-Frank is unlikely, Congress appears poised to revise or repeal certain provisions. 
• The Financial CHOICE Act, authored by Rep. Hensarling (R-TX) and introduced earlier this year, foreshadows the possible changes. The Act would repeal several major Dodd-Frank provisions including the Volcker Rule and Orderly Liquidation Authority, revise the SEC rulemaking process, change the nature of SEC enforcement and generally reduce agency oversight of financial institutions. 
• A revision of the CHOICE Act is underway, and it is possible that some of the bill’s more controversial proposals will be omitted in the 2.0 version in order to garner broader support. For now, we highlight some key provisions of the current bill and discuss their potential impact.