Yesterday marked the one-year anniversary of the passage of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. In recognition, U.S. Treasury Assistant Secretary for Financial Markets Mary Miller addressed the ongoing challenges this legislation has faced since then, including opposition from Republicans who have pushed for repeals in Congress:

Scaling back or repealing major parts of the Dodd-Frank Act or not providing regulators with the funds they need to implement the Act will leave our economy exposed to a cycle of collapses and crises, Miller told attendees of the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Associations Regulatory Reform Summit.

Why are Republicans so anxious to repeal Dodd-Frank? Evidently, they have the banks best interests at heart, concerned the bill will prove too much of a burden for them. Think new rules on debit card swipe fees, for example. Weve blogged extensively here on the subject. Instead of charging merchants an average of 44 cents per transaction every time we use our debit cards, the Fed has capped the fee at less than half. The burden to banks? A loss of billions of dollars in revenue each year.

And its true. Dodd-Frank wasnt created with the interest of banks in mind, its purpose:

To create a sound economic foundation to grow jobs, protect consumers, rein in Wall Street and big bonuses, end bailouts and too big to fail and prevent another financial crisis

Granted, the best of interest of banks may be implied with the reference to a sound economic foundation, but the best interest of consumers lies at the heart.

In the governments official summary of the Dodd-Frank financial reform act, highlights of consumer protection include:

• Consumer Protections with Authority and Independence: Creates a new independent watchdog, housed at the Federal Reserve, with the authority to ensure American consumers get the clear, accurate information they need to shop for mortgages, credit cards, and other financial products, and protect them from hidden fees, abusive terms, and deceptive practices.

• Ends Too Big to Fail Bailouts: Ends the possibility that taxpayers will be asked to write a check to bail out financial firms that threaten the economy by: creating a safe way to liquidate failed financial firms; imposing tough new capital and leverage requirements that make it undesirable to get too big; updating the Fed’s authority to allow system-wide support but no longer prop up individual firms; and establishing rigorous standards and supervision to protect the economy and American consumers, investors and businesses.

• Advance Warning System: Creates a council to identify and address systemic risks posed by large, complex companies, products, and activities before they threaten the stability of the economy.

• Transparency & Accountability for Exotic Instruments: Eliminates loopholes that allow risky and abusive practices to go on unnoticed and unregulated including loopholes for over-the-counter derivatives, asset-backed securities, hedge funds, mortgage brokers and payday lenders.

• Executive Compensation and Corporate Governance: Provides shareholders with a say on pay and corporate affairs with a non-binding vote on executive compensation and golden parachutes.

• Protects Investors: Provides tough new rules for transparency and accountability for credit rating agencies to protect investors and businesses.

• Enforces Regulations on the Books: Strengthens oversight and empowers regulators to aggressively pursue financial fraud, conflicts of interest and manipulation of the system that benefits special interests at the expense of American families and businesses.

But it will be interesting to see how these and other provisions of the legislation may be watered down by bank lobbying efforts. We already saw evidence of that with the debit card transaction fee referenced above. The cap on fees was originally proposed at 12 cents, but caving to banks, the Fed set the debit fee limit at 21 cents.

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