Hatch wants to halt Dodd-Frank until other nations get on board

April 12, 2011

The Hill

Peter Schroeder

Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) wants to put the brakes on the Dodd-Frank financial reform law until foreign nations adopt similar rules.

In a letter sent Friday to Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, Hatch said American companies are being put at a disadvantage by Dodd-Frank and that financial reform should be put on hold until other nations start playing by the same rules.

"I have real concerns that a lack of due diligence in the implementation of Dodd-Frank will result in unduly burdensome regulations that will undermine the competitiveness of our domestic financial industry, putting our nation at odds with our trading partners and placing further strain on an already stressed corporate tax structure," the ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee wrote. "While I support well-reasoned efforts to strengthen our financial system, if implementation is rushed, the Administration risks crippling our financial institutions by making them uncompetitive."

The letter came days before Geithner is set to meet with global financial officials — first at a joint meeting Tuesday of officials from the International Monetary Fund and World Bank, and then during a weekend meeting of the G-20 Finance Ministers.

Hatch asked Geithner whether the other G-20 nations are implementing their own versions of Dodd-Frank provisions — including the Volcker Rule, which places restrictions on the type of trading firms can do with their own funds. In addition, he wants to know if the administration thinks U.S. financial institutions will be put at a competitive disadvantage if other G-20 nations fail to adopt similar reforms.

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