A financial regulations expert weighs in on the possibleimplications of President Donald Trump's executive order scaling back the 2010 Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reformand Consumer Protection Act.

The enormous piece of financial reform legislation passed as a reactionto the 2008 financial crisis and covered about 2,300pages. It also established a number of government agencies chargedwith overseeing different aspects of the banking system.

Joseph Lynyak III, partner at the international law firm Dorsey& Whitney and an expert on Dodd-Frank, the Volcker Rule,regulatory reform, and the CFPB, reviewed the executive order andprovided commentary.

“The President's Executive Order 'Core Principles for Regulatingthe United States Financial System' establishes a set of guidelinesby which the Administration will judge the advisability ofimplementing financial regulatory changes not needing Congressionalapproval,” he said.

Importantly, Lynyak noted the Treasury Secretary has delegatedthe portfolio for financial regulatory reform, and through his roleas chair of the Financial Stability Oversight Council (establishedby Title I of the Dodd-Frank) is charged with the task ofidentifying what will have the effect of making the U.S. financialsystem safe, sound and competitive. “Clearly this will includemodifications to Dodd-Frank Act rules that have been repeatedlycriticized by the industry as being burdensome, costly, andineffective,” Lynyak said.

In a blog in The Hill, Pam Perdue, ‎EVP, chief regulatoryofficer for New Haven, Conn.-based ‎Continuity, wrote “The BankingCompliance Index disclosed that since January 2013, banks andcredit unions have engaged with more than 1,200 new rules coveringover 53,000 pages in the Federal Register.”

Repealing or revising Dodd-Frank requires new Congressionallegislation not an executive order. Last summer, Rep. JebHensarling (R-Texas), chair of the House Financial ServicesCommittee, introduced the Financial Choice Act, which would repealthe Volcker Rule (limiting trading by financial institutions), andthe Durbin Amendment (limiting debit card transactions fees), whilealso replacing Dodd-Frank, according to a January 30 article in theNew York Times.