Pictured here, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), Senate Financial Committee Chairman Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) and Senator Sherrod Brown (D-Oh.) speak to media in April during the wrangling to pass the overhaul.
As legislators trumpet a final agreement on the most sweeping financial reform since the Great Depression, consumers might be wondering, "What's in it for me?"
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The bill headed for final votes in Congress next week covers everything from debit-card swipes at Starbucks to the most complex securities, in an election-year salve for public anger over the Wall Street risk-taking that cost millions their jobs, homes and nest eggs.
The 2,000-page Dodd-Frank Act would:
• Create a Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
• Impanel a council of regulators to monitor the financial system for major risks.
• Impose tough regulations on complex financial derivatives that amplified the economic free-fall.
• Grant the government power to seize and dismantle teetering firms whose failure would pose a danger to the economy.
A brief summary of how the bill is expected to serve consumers:
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
This new agency is intended to protect the interests of the average Joe. Housed in the Federal Reserve, it is designed to protect consumers from predatory lending, hidden credit-card fees and the like.
Currently, consumer protection is spread among various bank regulators. The bill brings under one roof oversight of mortgages, credit cards, student loans and payday loans.
"The bill gives consumers a fighting chance," said Pamela Banks, senior policy counsel for Consumers Union, publisher of Consumer Reports.
OVERSIGHT
A 10-member council led by the Treasury secretary would monitor threats to the financial system. It would decide which companies were so big or interconnected that their failures could upend the economy.
If such a company teetered, the government could liquidate it. The costs of taking such a company down would be borne by its industry peers.
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Source: The Seattle Times
