Financial Services

Effective regulations are always necessary for an orderly economy.

The problem comes when the pendulum swings too far, as it did when the previous Administration’s “Dodd-Frank” financial reform legislation swung into what I believe was overregulation.

For example, this overregulation of the financial industry caused North Carolina to lose 50 percent of our banks since 2010, according to the North Carolina Bankers Association.  Due to excessive compliance costs and the need to satisfy bureaucrats more than serve local customers, many community banks and credit unions were forced to close or merge.  This negatively impacts the entrepreneurs and small businesses which normally create the majority of new jobs.  Dodd-Frank also reduced the financial options available for rural and low-income Americans. 

As a Member of the House Financial Services Committee, in 2017 I co-sponsored and helped pass the Financial CHOICE Act (H.R. 10), which repeals and replaces Dodd-Frank with common sense financial reform:

• Eliminates Wall Street bailouts:  Did you know Dodd-Frank virtually guaranteed future Wall Street bailouts by giving the Financial Stability Oversight Council authority to designate “systemically important financial institutions?”  Our common sense Financial CHOICE Act eliminates future taxpayer bailouts by replacing this misguided authority with a new chapter in the bankruptcy code to accommodate the failure of large financial institutions. 
• Protects consumers:  Imposes the toughest penalties in history for Wall Street fraud.
• Supports local community banks, credit unions, and small businesses:  Dodd-Frank required small businesses and community banks to be regulated to the same degree as massive Wall Street banks.  Community banks and credit unions were forced to close due to excessive compliance costs, even though they were too small to pose a systemic risk.  This made it hard for small businesses to obtain the capital and credit necessary to create jobs.  The Financial CHOICE Act imposes appropriate and common sense regulations on local banks, allowing them to focus on serving customers, not bureaucrats.
• Removes Dodd-Frank’s Soviet-style, centralized planning controls over the American economy, including a provision to replace the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s unaccountable “financial dictator” with a bipartisan, five-person commission.

The previous Administration thought 27,669 new rules would make the financial industry better.  Instead, Dodd-Frank made Wall Street banks even bigger and more powerful, guaranteed future taxpayer bailouts, and made it harder for ordinary Americans to access financial services. 

Maintaining the status quo was not acceptable.  So, as your Congressman, I took action, working with my colleagues to pass the Financial CHOICE Act.  We’ve actually increased penalties on Wall Street and ended taxpayer bailouts.  Our legislation makes it easier for small businesses to access the capital they need to grow and create jobs.  We are protecting the consumer and helping the economy take off.  This is a big win for the American people.