The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (2010) is the largest US financial regulation overhaul since the Great Depression. It created the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), enacted the Volcker Rule, reformed derivatives markets, and — via Section 1071 — mandated small business credit data collection from lenders.
Dodd-Frank was enacted in July 2010 in response to the 2007–2009 financial crisis. Its 848 pages and hundreds of implementing rules touched nearly every corner of the US financial system. Key provisions: (1) Creation of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) — consolidated consumer financial protection authority from multiple agencies into one entity with rule-making and enforcement power. (2) Volcker Rule — restricted banks from proprietary trading and limited investments in hedge funds and private equity funds. (3) Derivatives reform — moved OTC derivatives to centralized clearinghouses, added reporting requirements, reduced systemic opacity. (4) Systemically Important Financial Institutions (SIFIs) — created enhanced oversight and resolution planning requirements for firms whose failure could destabilize the financial system. (5) Title XIV mortgage reform — established ability-to-repay requirements and qualified mortgage (QM) standards. For small business lending, Section 1071 is the most directly relevant provision. It amends the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA) to require financial institutions to collect and report data on small business credit applications — including demographics of principal owners, loan amounts, approval/denial decisions, and interest rates. The CFPB finalized Section 1071 rules in 2023 (with implementation phased 2025–2026), creating a small business lending data regime analogous to HMDA for mortgages. Section 1071 data will, for the first time, create systematic visibility into small business lending patterns by race, ethnicity, gender, and geography — enabling regulators and researchers to identify discriminatory lending patterns in the commercial market. Lenders covered by 1071 must invest significantly in data collection infrastructure and face enhanced fair lending examination scrutiny. Source: Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Section 1071 information at https://www.consumerfinance.gov/data-research/small-business-lending/.
Section 1071 of Dodd-Frank requires financial institutions making small business loans to collect and report data about loan applicants — including owner demographics, loan terms, and approval decisions. Final CFPB rules were issued in 2023. Large lenders (1,000+ small business loans/year) begin reporting in 2025; smaller lenders have later compliance dates. The data will create systematic visibility into small business credit access across demographic groups — enabling fair lending enforcement in the commercial market for the first time.
Dodd-Frank created the Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC) to identify systemic risks, designated large banks and nonbanks as SIFIs subject to Federal Reserve oversight and enhanced prudential standards, established the Orderly Liquidation Authority (OLA) for winding down failing large financial firms without taxpayer bailout, and required large banks to maintain 'living wills' (resolution plans). Together these provisions were designed to prevent 'too big to fail' scenarios.
Partially. The Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act (2018) raised the SIFI threshold from $50B to $250B in assets, exempting many regional banks from the most burdensome enhanced prudential standards. Volcker Rule was simplified in 2019 to reduce compliance burden. Core provisions — CFPB, Section 1071, qualified mortgage standards, central clearing for derivatives — remain largely intact.