Wall Street, Regulation | featured news

The 2008 financial crisis roiled the banking system and swamped the global economy, leaving millions of Americans jobless, underemployed or facing foreclosure. In its wake, Congress set out to overhaul how the government oversees Wall Street. The result was a sprawling law, the Dodd-Frank Act, which aims to prevent future crises by giving the government new tools and restricting banks' activities. The law may make future crises less likely, but it increases costs for companies, especially banks, and their customers.

Vice President Joe Biden said Tuesday that a Republican-led effort to loosen new regulations on Wall Street would put voters "back in chains."

Democratic Rep. Barney Frank of Massachusetts does not intend to seek re-election in 2012, his office said Monday, closing out a career of more than three decades in Congress capped by last year's passage of legislation imposing new regulations on Wall Street.

Senate Republicans, attacked for twice blocking legislation to rein in Wall Street, floated a partial alternative proposal Tuesday and said it could lead to election-year compromise on an issue that commands strong public support....

President Barack Obama scolded Wall Street on Thursday for its "furious efforts" to fight tighter regulation, saying the United States was doomed to another financial crisis if reforms were not implemented

An overwhelming majority of Americans wants Wall Street subjected to tougher regulation in the aftermath of the bank bailout and the bonus scandals that have rocked the U.S. financial sector, according to a Harris poll released on Thursday.

President Barack Obama chastised Wall Street firms on Tuesday for resisting tighter regulations of their industry and said they had not done enough to boost lending to small businesses.