Introduced as late as July 2011 by President Obama, the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Shopper Protection Act (otherwise known as the Dodd Frank Act) was as a direct reaction to the financial crisis which almost brought the US, and indeed the world economy, to its knees back in 2008.

The Act was named after Senator Chris Dodd and Republican Barney Frank who presented the idea of putting the Govt. in firm control of the regulation of the fiscal establishments, straight to the President. It is assumed that tighter control will ensure the government has their finger on the heartbeat and as a result they will be able to take any harmful action to avoid any farther finance crashes. This is one of the most elaborate acts to be passed since the great depression of the 1930′s and includes some whistleblower laws with mega fiscal incentives.

After the financial collapse, Obama also asked the government to pass the Volcker rule. This is a law instituted that heavily restricts the financial institutions from making any type of speculative investments that in no way benefit their customers. This ruling is said to be implemented on July 21st 2012.