Dodd-Frank was never a particularly impressive piece of legislation - not surprising given that one of the bill's namesakes, Chris Dodd was caught red handed taking special favors from Countrywide/Bank of America.
Nonetheless, Dodd-Frank did make some minor tweaks to a failed financial system. One of those tweaks that actually survived the implementation process - left open to the regulators by Congress so Wall Street could win - was the position limits rule. The rule limits the amount of contracts one firm can purchase i.e whether just a few firms can manipulate dominate a market like, I don't know, oil.
But have no fear, the rule is no more. From the New York Times:
Wall Street posted another victory in the battle over regulation on Friday after a federal judge struck down a central piece of the Obama administration’s financial overhaul.
The court decision dealt the latest blow to the Dodd-Frank Act, the regulatory crackdown passed in response to the financial crisis. The decision on Friday, aimed at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s so-called position limits rule, is the second time a Dodd-Frank rule has suffered legal defeat.
The futures commission adopted the rule last year to place new restrictions on speculative trading, capping the number of derivatives contracts a trader can hold on certain commodities. The agency aimed to rein in trading blamed for inflated prices at the gas pump and the grocery store.
The regulations were initially defeated in 2000 by
Enron and other trading firms who did not want transparency or limits on their ability to manipulate markets (see
California for details).
And now the banksters have won again.
Occupy Wall Street before it Occupies You.