Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act is a major boost for small businesses and job creation

SBA Administrator Linda McMahon voiced enthusiastic support for the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act (S. 2155) signed into law by President Donald Trump Thursday morning.

McMahon attended the bill signing at the White House, surrounded by fellow Cabinet members and a bipartisan group of lawmakers who supported the legislation.

“I applaud President Trump for delivering on his promises to make regulatory reform and tax cuts key pillars of his pro-growth agenda,” McMahon said. “As I meet with small business owners and community lenders all over the country, I constantly hear concerns that overly burdensome regulations like Dodd-Frank hinder their growth and stop them from creating jobs. This legislation removes a stranglehold from smaller community banks and credit unions that have been limited in their ability to provide funding to individual and small business borrowers. This is a major step forward that will better enable small businesses to start and expand.”

This legislation is the first major change to the Dodd-Frank Act since its passage in 2010. The bill had bipartisan support in the Senate and House.

“Access to capital is a critical factor in whether small businesses succeed or fail,” McMahon said. “Relieving lenders of some of these regulatory restrictions will give them more freedom to work with borrowers and get funding into the hands of those who need it.”

The Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act [Full Text] provides regulatory relief for banking institutions by raising the threshold at which annual risk oversight measures such as stress tests and regulatory compliance measures apply, increasing it to $250 billion from the current $50 billion. For those institutions with total assets between $50 billion and $100 billion, the regulatory relief is immediate. For those with total assets between $100 billion and $250 billion, the relief is phased in over 18 months. The legislation also provides relief from the Volcker Rule, which banned proprietary trading by commercial banks, for banking institutions with assets under $10 billion.

The legislation also waives some Consumer Finance Protection Bureau mortgage reporting requirements for banks with assets under a certain threshold. Consumers will be allowed to freeze credit files with credit reporting companies, protecting their data. Active members of the military will get free credit monitoring.