While the one-year anniversary of the passing of the Dodd-Frank act is certainly a milestone, the end game is still some way away. Indeed, with June’s announcement that the implementation of new derivatives trading rules is being delayed by six months, it appears that it will still be some time before the current uncertainty is resolved. Reaching a consensus on proposed changes and developing the relevant infrastructure in order to enable all parties to conform to the draft legislation is taking some time, and the necessary technology platforms and processing models have yet to be built.
One further factor contributing to the delay has been the shift in the US political landscape since the legislation was drafted. The Democrats’ loss of the House of Representatives and a large number of Senate seats in late-2010 led to more dissenting voices in Congress, and an increasing number of legislators are prepared to push back against the implementation of these regulations.
