DODD-FRANK WALL STREET REFORM AND CONSUMER PROTECTION ACT OF 2010

The Dodd-Frank Wall Street and Consumer Protection Act, which was signed into law by President Obama on July 21, 2010, has a wide-ranging impact on numerous sectors of the economy. The Act is more than 1,700 pages and has a table of contents, which, in fact, is 11 pages long in and of itself.

The Act focuses on the financial services industry, but its breadth is so great that it affects many government agencies, establishes new government offices and influences numerous areas of law. It also impacts a diverse group of businesses, including banks, bank holding companies, broker-dealers, credit unions, insurers, investment advisors, hedge funds and credit rating agencies, among other types of businesses, as well as publicly traded corporations and their executives in general.

Much of the Act, rather than actually establishing substantive rules, directs that various government bodies and agencies assume the responsibility for implementing the Act by engaging in studies and promulgating and adopting rules and regulations that will accomplish the objectives that Congress has set forth in the Act. These bodies and agencies include, but are not limited to, the Department of the Treasury, the Comptroller General, the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and the Securities Investor Protection Corporation. The process of promulgation of these rules is expected to be contentious. In fact, a column by Gretchen Morgenson in the August 29, 2010 New York Times, discussing the rules concerning derivatives that the Act requires the Commodity Futures Trading Commission to promulgate and adopt, describes the anticipated rule-making process as “going back to the battlefield,” and further says that the rule making efforts will be a “much more complicated battlefield.”

Saul Ewing, in its approach to informing its clients and friends about the Act, has created a Dodd-Frank Act Task Force to focus specifically on portions of the Act that it believes are of special concern to its clients and friends. Co-chaired by Partners Marshall B. Paul and Katayun I. Jaffari, members of the task force have been and will continue to publish Alerts that target those topics. Links to Alerts (and descriptions of each one) that the firm has published to date can be found below. Saul Ewing will continue to supplement its Dodd-Frank Alert series with additional Alerts concerning other portions of the Act and, as rules and regulations are proposed and adopted, with Alerts explaining and commenting on those rules and regulations.

	How Will the Dodd-Frank Whistleblower Rules Affect Companies?
	Katayun I. Jaffari, September 15, 2011
	SEC Adopts Final "Say-on-Pay" Rules
	Katayun I. Jaffari and John H. Chung , February 2011
	SEC issues study on investment advisers and broker-dealers
	Justin B. Ettelson, January 2011
	Dodd-Frank Financial Reform Act: Should "family offices" be concerned?
	Robert H. Louis, October 13, 2010
	SEC proxy access rule on hold pending court review
	Katayun I. Jaffari, October 2010
	Dodd-Frank law provides whistleblower incentives and protection
	Katayun I. Jaffari and John H. Chung, September 27, 2010
	Dodd-Frank compensation committee rules — implications for nonprofits?
	Marshall B. Paul and Harry D. Shapiro, September 20, 2010
	Dodd-Frank law calls for, and the SEC establishes, proxy access
	Katayun I. Jaffari and John H. Chung, September 16, 2010
	“Orderly Liquidation Process” created for “Too-Big-To-Fail” companies
	Teresa K.D. Currier, September 13, 2010
	Dodd-Frank law calls for Say on Pay
	Katayun I. Jaffari and John H. Chung, September 8, 2010
	The Ghost of Christmas Future – The Dodd-Frank Act and its impact on the regulation of the insurance and reinsurance industries
	Michael F. Consedine, August 18, 2010
	Dodd-Frank law sets new rules for compensation consultants, counsel and other advisers
	Marshall B. Paul and Katayun I. Jaffari, August 12, 2010
	Dodd-Frank law calls for regulations requiring independence of compensation committees
	Marshall B. Paul and Katayun I. Jaffari, August 9, 2010
	Dodd-Frank financial reform act alters regulatory regime for advisers to hedge funds and other investment advisers
	Craig F. Zappetti and Justin B. Ettelson, August 2, 2010
	Enhanced SIPC protection under the Dodd-Frank Act
	Orlan M. Johnson, Lawrence A. London and Jonathan S. Cohen, July 2010
	The Dodd-Frank Act will change the "Accredited Investor" net worth threshold for a natural person
	Dennis J. Brennan, July 2010