what is the dodd frank wall street reform and consumer protection act 
the dodd frank wall street reform and consumer protection act commonly known as the dodd frank act or dodd frank is legislation that was passed by the u s congress in response to financial industry behavior that led to the financial crisis of 2007 2008 it sought to make the u s financial system safer for consumers and taxpayers named for sponsors sen christopher j dodd d conn and rep barney frank d mass the act contains numerous provisions spelled out over 848 pages that were to be implemented over a period of several years 1understanding the dodd frank actthe dodd frank act is a massive piece of financial reform legislation that was passed in 2010 during the obama administration 1it established a number of new government agencies tasked with overseeing the various components of the law and by extension various aspects of the financial system the 2007 2008 financial crisis is perhaps the worst economic catastrophe to befall the country and the world since the wall street crash in 1929 broadly speaking it was caused by greed driven behavior and lax oversight of financial institutions the loosening of financial industry regulations in the decades leading up to 2007 allowed various types of institutions in the u s financial services industry to lend money in ways that were riskier than ever before the housing sector in particular experienced massive growth that couldn t be supported the bubble burst sending the banking industry and global stock markets into a downfall it created the worst global recession in generations dodd frank was created to keep anything similar from ever happening again the dodd frank wall street reform and consumer protection act was intended to prevent another financial crisis like the one in 2007 2008 components of the dodd frank acthere are some of the law s key provisions and how they work the effort to roll back the dodd frank act