Wall Street could face fresh restrictions on bonus payments as regulators appointed by President Donald Trump consider dusting off post-crisis rules that have long been on the back burner, according to two people familiar with the matter.
U.S. agencies including the Federal Reserve have discussed re-proposing the regulations after previous attempts to approve them in 2011 and 2016 failed, said the people, who asked not be named because the efforts are very preliminary. Required by the 2010 Dodd-Frank Act, the controversial rules were meant to curb incentive pay that could encourage traders to take the kinds of dangerous risks that contributed to the 2008 meltdown.
While the rules would seem at odds with Trump’s de-regulatory agenda, banks might be better off if agency heads he’s appointed pass them. That’s because any limits on bonuses implemented during his administration could be less onerous than what might be approved should a Democrat win the White House in 2020.
The ironic thing here is that if someone like Joe Biden, or Kamala Harris, or Corey Booker becomes President in 2020, they will never pass any limits on Wall Street pay.
Still it’s a start.