House Financial Services Committee Announces Three Hearings Regarding Dodd-Frank (with Lofchie Comment)

The House Committee on Financial Services announced that it will conduct three hearings to examine how Dodd-Frank has impacted the financial regulatory landscape.

The first hearing will be held on July 9 at 10:00 a.m. and is titled "Dodd-Frank Five Years Later: Are We More Stable?" The second hearing will occur on July 28 and is titled "Dodd-Frank Five Years Later: Are We More Prosperous?" A third hearing, titled "Dodd-Frank Five Years Later: Are We More Free?" will be scheduled at a later date.

Lofchie Comment: These hearings are unlikely to present opportunities for critical thinking about fixing the regulatory framework. Neither side will be interested in crediting the other with honesty or even good faith. No doubt, many of the statements will be impossible to prove. No matter how many regulators assert that the markets are now much "safer" than before, such a conclusion is not obvious, nor is it clear how such claims could be substantiated. It is clear, however, that prior positive predictions about the effects of Dodd-Frank on the market have fallen short. For example, it is obvious now that non-U.S. investors are disinclined to trade under the rules of Dodd-Frank. Also, regulators' previous irrational exuberance over the benefits of central clearing has given way, even among those who strongly favor the process, to increasing concern that central clearing has become a potential threat to systemic safety.

See: House Committee on Financial Services Press Release.