WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - As part of an ongoing effort to roll back financial regulations instituted under former President Barack Obama, President Donald Trump signed presidential memorandums on Friday ordering reviews of key provisions of the Dodd-Frank financial reform law.
In a ceremony to sign the directives, Trump described the reduction of regulations as the first step toward tax reform.
One memorandum directs Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin to review the government's orderly liquidation authority, which provides a process to liquidate a large, complex financial company that is close to failing.
Mnuchin told reporters the review could examine whether the regular bankruptcy process should be changed to handle such liquidations.
'President Trump is absolutely committed to make sure taxpayers are not at risk for government bailouts for entities that are too big to fail,' Mnuchin said.
A second memorandum directs Mnuchin to assess the Financial Stability Oversight Council's process of designating which firms are large enough to merit enhanced regulation.
The review comes amid criticism of the process for designating systemically important financial institutions, with MetLife (MET) successfully suing last year to be removed from the list.
Mnuchin said the Treasury Department has agreed not to designate any new non-bank financial institutions as systemically important until the review is completed, except in cases of emergency.
According to Politico, the memos appear to be more specific extensions of the financial regulatory review Trump order on February 3rd.
Trump also signed an executive order directing Mnuchin to review significant tax rules to determine if they impose an undue burden on taxpayers, are unnecessarily complex or exceed an agency's authority.
(Photo: Gage Skidmore)
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