Trump Begins Effort To Deregulate Wall Street

The Tea Party was formed, in part, by outrage over the government's decision to bail out Wall Street banks.  Donald Trump took up the Tea Party's banner during his campaign.  He campaigned as a reformer who would punish the Wall Street banks for creating the financial crisis that spawned the Great Recession.  Congress was also angered by the financial crisis and it did several things that were designed to prevent a recurrence of the financial crisis.  The Dodd-Frank bill made it more difficult for Wall Street banks to take the risks that forced the government to rescue them from bankruptcy.  The Consumer Financial Protection agency was formed to make it more difficult for banks to harm their customers.  Financial advisers were also required to place their customers interests above their own.  For example, financial advisers could not recommend an investment that paid a higher commission than a similar investment.

Donald Trump now claims that the regulations that were put in place in response to the financial crisis have been harmful.  He said that many of his friends are having a difficult time getting loans because of Dodd-Frank and other regulations.  This article describes that actions that Trump has taken to reverse key components of Dodd-Frank and the requirement that financial advisers place their client's interests above their own.  He was cheered by the CEO's of the Wall Street banks that he had attacked during his election campaign.  His cabinet has also been staffed with executives from Goldman Sachs and other Wall Street banks.  He had portrayed Hillary Clinton as a protector of the Wall Street banks during his election campaign.  Apparently, he hopes to replace Clinton in that role.