Conference Committee Report on Dodd-Frank Act is Approved

At 5:39 am on Friday June 25, by separate votes along strict party lines of 20 to 11 and seven to five, House of Representatives and Senate conferees separately approved the Conference Committee Report on the financial regulatory reform bill, HR 4173, now known as the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. Different versions of the act had been approved by the House of Representatives in December and by the Senate in May. Following reaction by some legislators to the so-called ‘bank tax’ to fund the estimated $22 billion administrative and other costs of the act over 10 years, conferees reconvened on June 29 to adopt an alternative funding mechanism provision by a similar partisan vote. House Financial Services Chairman Barney Frank presided over the seven-plus days of televised public hearings of the conferees. The act was approved by the House of Representatives on June 30 by a 237 to 192 vote, with Senate action to follow. President Obama is expected to sign the measure into law shortly after final approval by the Senate. The act will generally take effect one day after the date of enactment, with certain exceptions.

This Sidley Update was republished by ILO in its Trade & Customs Newsletter.