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MReport_March_2015

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Th e M Rep o RT | 13 in November, Republican lawmakers aren't wasting time trying to roll back Dodd-Frank. Just in January, centrist Democrats joined with the House majority in passing a bill that would check the Volcker Rule—that part of the law that would force banks to wipe their hands of collateralized-loan obligations—for the next two years. The New York Times predicted that Warren would likely try to ward off any further changes to Dodd-Frank with her Senate colleagues. Either way, the clash between Democrats and Republicans repre- sents uncertainty. Lawmakers will need to pass a new budget this summer to keep the government open past September. That means another make-or-break omnibus bill, with policy riders included. And you can bet that groups like the National Association of Realtors, which dropped about $55 million in last year's elections—which OpenSecrets. org said made it the second-most fi- nancially active lobby group in 2014— will want some say in those riders. Calabria expects just that to happen—a "piecemeal reform" of the 2010 law that will continue to impact compliance rules, even the integrated disclosure form, depending on what happens in August. "I see a kind of middling around the edges," he said. Richard Morris, a partner at the New York City-based law firm Herrick, Feinstein LLP., has connections to for- mer U.S. senators with intimate knowl- edge of the financial reform process. He likened the battle over more compliance as a sunrise-versus-sunset philosophy. Established industries don't often like change, he said. "I think what people need to know is that their bankers . . . have to em- brace these regulations," Morris said. "There is a prudent course that has been plotted for us and we need to follow that course." Ryan Schuette is a journal- ist, cartoonist, and entrepreneur with ongoing interests in banking policy and international affairs. He currently lives in Washington, D.C., where he's undertaking a master's in journalism at American University. When he's not attend- ing congressional hearings, he enjoys writing creatively and staying in shape.

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