MSNBC anchor Stephanie Ruhle praised on Wednesday the new banking legislation that repealed major parts of the 2010 Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act.
"I'm just going to start with, I think this is a really good idea," Ruhle said. She continued how Dodd-Frank impacted the banking industry when she worked for an investment bank.
"In 2008, 2009, I worked in investment banking. I was in the gnarliest part of the business in structured credit derivatives, and banks took way too much risk, and we didn't have enough cash in reserves. But when Dodd-Frank was put into place, it brushed every bank in the same way, and we were subject to regulatory capture," Ruhle said. "So those massive JP Morgans of world, they could afford to hold more capital, they could hire a thousand more compliance officers. But if you ran a small or mid-sized bank that predominantly ran loans in the Midwest, you couldn't possibly afford that. And they were the institutions that got strangled."
Ruhle added that one of the people who the legislation is named after, former Congressman Barney Frank (D., Mass.), also thinks the new legislation is a good idea.
"This is a great move, and the fact that Barney Frank thinks it is, I think says a lot," Ruhle said.
On Tuesday, the House of Representatives passed a bipartisan Senate bill that rolled back parts of Dodd-Frank. The regulatory rollback is significant win for Republicans and President Donald Trump, who is expected to sign the legislation. The bill doesn't completely undo Dodd-Frank but rolls back many of the regulations for smaller and medium-sized banks. Fewer than 10 of the biggest banks will still be subject to the strict federal regulation.
CNBC reporter John Harwood said the fact the bill wasn't a complete repeal of the 2010 legislation was the reason some Democrats joined Republicans in passing the bill.
"And it's why you got not only Republicans but a significant number of Democrats in both the House and the Senate making this happen and putting it on President Trump's desk," Harwood said.
In the past, Ruhle has credited the Trump administration's cutting of regulations for a strong, confident market.