Allan Mendelowitz, co-founder of the Committee to Establish the National Institute of Finance (Ce-Nif), has called the Dodd-Frank Act’s provision for mandatory transaction data monitoring “a tribute to the power of American democracy”.
Mendelowitz said he was delighted with the reconciled bill, adding: “It’s a small provision in the bill. It’s almost gone unnoticed. There are a lot of easy flashpoints that have hooked the press. There’s about 90% of what was in the Reid [Senate] bill. It’s not perfect, [but] it’s still an incredible achievement.”
The most important proposal – the creation of a national database to store transaction data, accessible by regulators monitoring the build up of systemic risk – has made...