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Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform Analysis

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In the United States, these series of reforms are known as the “Dodd-Frank Wal Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, n.d.). The first thing that was established was the Financial Stability Oversight Council, which is a committee under the Treasury that is responsible for monitoring the financial system and “identifying risks to the financial stability of the United States; promoting market discipline; and respond to emerging risks to the stability of the United States’ financial system” (Financial Stability Oversight Council, 2016). Second is the “Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB)”, which is an agency established with the purpose of developing and enforcing rules that …show more content…

Once established, it ensured that it is easier for consumers to understand the terms of the mortgage and enforced other rules that prevent the repeating of the financial crisis. Thirdly, the Dodd Frank Act also established the SEC Office of Credit Ratings, which enhances the accuracy of credit rating agencies by evaluating the agency on a standard. Furthering transparency, it also established the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, which handsomely rewards whistleblowers and holds affiliates to the financial institutions accountable. In addition to this, the Dodd-Frank also implemented restrictions on banks such as: investment methods, limits on speculative trading, and banning proprietary trading (when they invest for their own interest rather than clients’). It also banned banks from partaking in hedge funds or private equity firms (Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, n.d.). This is called the Vlocker Rule, it curbs the risk that a bank can take and separates the investment & commercial functions of the bank so that they don’t conflict in interest. It even regulates financial institutions’ use of derivatives, which is a more speculative …show more content…

As their name suggests, they only execute their operations online. Customers can only be in contact with their money over the internet since they do not have any physical branches. Because online-only banks require lower overhead costs, they have the capability to offer more free services and higher interest rates compared to a traditional bank. Online banking provides many customers the convenience of handling their business at any physical location as long as they have access to internet. This is possible because of the variety of services that online banks provide despite limiting interaction to only the internet. Some of their services include applying for loans online, transferring funds and paying bills online. While the convenience of being able to access banking through the internet is worthwhile, there are limits to it. For example, making large deposits to the bank is limited and can only be made through the mail, they don’t service cashier checks for transactions, and withdrawing money from the account is very inconvenient. Luckily, the role of the internet in financial transactions is becoming increasingly prominent so that spending money online is more accessible, but it is important to understand both the benefits as well as restraints of online banking. Nowadays, many large brick-and-mortar banks have caught on and provide some online services in attempts to

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