How Trump & Co. have moved to quash tighter financial rules

WASHINGTON (AP) — Just three weeks into his administration, President Donald Trump and his allies are moving quickly to dismantle the web of regulations the government passed after the 2008 financial crisis to tighten oversight of banks and protect consumers and taxpayers.

The drive to repeal the rules has come in a multi-pronged attack — from the White House, on Capitol Hill and at the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Trump and the team around him "want to have this dramatic beginning, looking like he's moving as quickly as he can to fulfill all his campaign promises," says Norman Ornstein of the American Enterprise Institute, a seasoned observer of Washington politics.

With a flourish at the White House, and after meeting with top CEOs and bank executives, Trump ordered a review of Dodd-Frank to be conducted by his Treasury secretary.

The bureau, created by Dodd-Frank, exists to protect ordinary consumers from abusive practices by banks, mortgage companies, credit card issuers, payday lenders, debt collectors and others.

The legislation the Republicans introduced would repeal a CFPB rule that strengthens protections for consumers who use prepaid debit cards, which low-income people typically acquire as an alternative to a bank account.

Trump has told the Labor Department to delay implementing a rule requiring brokers who recommend investments for retirement savers to meet the stricter standard that applies to registered advisers:

During the financial crisis, outsize pay packages were blamed for encouraging disastrous risk-taking and short-term gain at big banks at the expense of long-term performance.

Business groups like the U.S. Chamber of Commerce have complained that the rule imposes costly and time-consuming requirements for companies to gather pay information on their employees.