Dodd Frank Act at 5 Year Mark Now – There is Still Work to Do

In 2007, the dominoes started to fall.  The debt auction rate market caught cold, leading in time to the broad capital markets and housing markets catching pneumonia.  Down went the dominoes – click/click/click – US housing prices plunged, lender foreclosures skyrocketed, equity share prices plummeted – and trillions’ of dollars of accumulated wealth disappeared – poof!

There were many players involved in the drama – commercial banks, investment banks, credit rating agencies, federal regulators, borrowers themselves – and as the dominoes fell, government officials responded.  The TARP money flowed to the top banks, and then many banks beyond the money centers.  Federal dollars saved the US auto industry.  “Zero” rates at the Fed borrowing windows are still the rule.  And the US Senate and House of Representatives and the White House responded with a comprehensive package of statutes we call “The Dodd Frank Act.”

Dodd-Frank rules are in place to govern certain private sector activities and the rule making is continuing.  Did the legislation (and operating rules) cover all the bases?  Opinion is mixed on this.  We asked Lisa Woll, executive director of the influential Forum for Sustainable & Responsible Investing (US|SIF) for her views on Dodd-Frank at the five year mark.  Our Sustainability Update blog post has her perspectives this week: http://ga-institute.com/Sustainability-Update/2015/09/28/dodd-frank-act-at-5-years-not-quite-done-in-rulemaking/.

This is just a sample of some of the articles from this weeks SustainabilityHQ Highlights.  You can view the full Highlights by using the following links. Sustainability | ESG, Highlights for the Week of September 30, 2015