How GOP bill would dismantle many Dodd-Frank restrictions

To undo the stricter banking rules that took effect after the devastating 2008 financial crisis.

Notably, it would sharply diminish the authority of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which oversees the practices of companies that provide products and services from credit cards and payday loans to mortgages and debt collection.

President Donald Trump launched his attack on Dodd-Frank after taking office, ordering a Treasury Department review of the complex rules that have put the legislation into practice.

During the crisis, the government intervened to rescue the largest banks from collapse and saved some faltering institutions with bailouts and emergency loans or helped sell them to other banks.

The Treasury would pay the firm's obligations and be repaid with industry fees and money raised from shareholders, bondholders and asset sales.

Republicans have stressed the need for regulatory relief from Dodd-Frank for community banks.

[...] in a fairly rare area of bipartisan agreement, some Democratic lawmakers have indicated support for this, at least in theory.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau was empowered by Dodd-Frank to scrutinize the practices of virtually any business that sells financial products and services, including for-profit colleges, auto lenders and money-transfer agents.

The agency has, among other things, conducted investigations across the spectrum of financial products and opened a database for consumers to lodge complaints against companies.

Dodd-Frank established a Financial Stability Oversight Council of top regulators, led by the Treasury secretary, of top regulators to monitor the financial system and identify potential threats.

The new legislation would strip the council of its authority to designate financial firms as systemically important and would make its funding subject to Congress' budget process.