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A little bit of detail on how the government could go about dismantling Dodd-Frank bank regulations.

One possible target of the "dismantle" efforts might be the so-called "Volcker rule," which bars banks from making certain speculative investments that could boost profits, but not benefit their customers. The rule was first proposed by Paul Volcker, the former Federal Reserve chairman who wanted a firewall between a bank's consumer operations and its risky trading activities.

Another target could be the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, a Dodd-Frank creation that imposed new regulations in areas such as mortgage-servicing, foreclosure relief services, debt collection and more.

Republicans might be reluctant to wipe out the agency just months after a scandal at Wells Fargo involving sham customer accounts. But the new Congress is widely expected to change the CFPB's management structure so that instead of having a single, powerful director, it would operate under a slower-moving commission.

Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew, in testimony to Congress in September, defended Dodd-Frank, saying the new rules have improved safety in the financial industry. "It would be a mistake to roll back the clock on these protections," he said.

http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-w...nk-regulations