The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010

Highlights of the Law and Opportunities for Accounting Practitioners, Academics, and Students

Hema Rao, DBA, CPA, and John MacDonald, PhD, and Dean Crawford, PhD, CPA

On July 21, 2010, President Obama signed into law the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, named after the legislation's sponsors, Senator Christopher Dodd (D-Conn.) and Representative Barney Frank (D-Mass.). The legislative scope of this 848-page law is the most ambitious since the Great Depression. It may take years to implement the new regulations of the credit rating agencies, banks, hedge funds, buyout shops, and the $450 trillion derivatives market. The government will audit lending programs of the central banks and use the Volcker Rule to rein in speculative proprietary trading activities of big insured banks. The regulators are expected to implement many of these provisions quickly, some within the next six to 18 months.