House Financial Services Committee Passes Financial CHOICE Act

The House Financial Services Committee, on May 4, 2017 (following a three-day markup), passed the Financial CHOICE Act 34-26 on a party-line vote. The CHOICE Act would make a wide range of changes to U.S. financial services regulation. It would, among other things, repeal key provisions of the Dodd-Frank Act, including the Volcker Rule and the Orderly Liquidation Authority, significantly scale back the authority of the Financial Stability Oversight Council, and rescind the DOL’s new fiduciary regulation under ERISA (and require future regulatory activity on the same point to be coordinated with SEC action). It would also overhaul the rulemaking process for financial regulatory agencies, seek to encourage capital formation, and enhance penalties for banking and securities law violations. If the bill were to pass the full House of Representatives, its prospects in the Senate currently remain uncertain (particularly in light of 60-vote considerations present under existing Senate rules).

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