U.S. lawmakers and lobbyists who once backed repeal of the 2010 Dodd-Frank Act are now pushing for technical fixes to the law, and theyre getting a skeptical reception from the measures advocates.
While some alterations to the act have bipartisan support in Congress, many Democrats say they remain wary of measures that might undermine the law that created the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and mandated regulations to curb risky behavior by financial institutions deemed too big to fail.
There is general agreement that technical corrections on an 800-page bill would be appropriate, said Lauren Kulik, a spokeswoman for Senator Sherrod Brown, a Democrat from Ohio and a member of the Senate Banking Committee. At the same time, she said, Dodd-Frank supporters worry that a technical change could morph into a substantive change.
Technical corrections are in the eye of the beholder, said Senator Jack Reed, a Rhode Island Democrat who also sits on the committee.
Lawmakers and industry advocates are working on categorizing which of the many proposals for Dodd-Frank changes should be defined as a technical, said James Ballentine, executive vice president of congressional relations and political affairs at the American Bankers Association.
Easy and technical are not two words that go together in this environment, Ballentine said. A technical fix for some is a major issue for others and thats what requires discussion.
As that discussion evolves, proponents of change to Dodd- Frank say they see support growing in both parties.
Punishing Banks
