The 2010 Dodd-Frank Act was the major talking point of SEC commissioner Daniel Gallagher's speech in front of the U.S. Chamber Center for Capital Market's Competitiveness on Wednesday.

After making clear that he was only speaking for himself, he immediately noted that this Monday is not just President Obama's inauguration or Martin Luther King, Jr. day — it is also the two-and-a-half-year anniversary off Dodd-Frank.

You can say this about the Dodd-Frank Act: it’s a perfect example of not letting a crisis go to waste. Indeed, the Act is a model of the new paradigm of legislation — a core concept, in this case regulatory reform, overwhelmed by a grab bag of wish-list items. What continues to amaze me about the Act is not only what it covers in its 2319 pages, but also the crucial regulatory issues it does not address … The Dodd-Frank Act's attempts to “solve” the financial crisis illustrate the peril of false narratives — it justifies its mandates as answers, but only after asking the wrong questions.

After discussing in depth a few other financial issues, Gallagher gets into the SEC it self:

For all the recent talk of gridlock in a divided Commission, I believe that notwithstanding our party and policy differences, this Commission is fully united in its desire to carry out the Commission’s mandate to protect investors, maintain fair, orderly, and efficient markets, and facilitate capital formation.

For the full text of the speech, click here. You can also check out some coverage of the speech from the Wall Street Journal here. 

Edited by: Ben Geier


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