Important Laws Regulating the Financial Industry
1. Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, 2010
On July , 2010, President Obama signed the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act into law. Intended to completely re-regulate the financial industry, this sweeping legislation is currently in a two to five year rulemaking process.
2. Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, 1999
In 1999, the Senate voted 90-8 to approve the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, which repealed the Depression-era barriers separating banking, insurance, and securities. The Act was intended to pave the way for more healthy competition in the financial services industry, creating a financial services “supermarket” for Americans.
3. Securities Litigation Uniform Standards Act, 1998
On November 3, 1998, President Clinton signed into law the Securities Litigation Uniform Standards Act of 1998. This Act amends the Securities Act of 1933 and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 to prohibit the prosecution of class-action securities fraud suits in state courts and provide federal courts with the right to stay discovery in state court actions that interfere with their jurisdiction. The Act is designed to prevent state securities lawsuits alleging fraud from being used to frustrate the objectives of the Private Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (the “Reform Act”).
4. National Securities Markets Improvement Act (NSMIA), 1996
Passed by Congress in 1996, the NSMIA was an attempt to update and amend previous security acts and create one uniform code that companies and regulators could follow.
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