Dodd-Frank: What About Leasing?

Public Law 111-203 was passed by the U.S. Senate on a 60-39 vote in the summer of 2010 and became effective when signed into law by President Barack Obama on July 21, 2010, just over one year ago. It is codified at 12 U.S.C. 5301, et seq. Having been sponsored primarily by Senator Christopher Dodd (D-CT) and Congressman Barney Frank (D-MA), its official short title is the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, although it is often also referred to simply as Dodd-Frank, or as the DFA.

As described in this two-part article, the Dodd-Frank legislation is expected to have broad and deep implications for all sectors of the U.S. financial industry and marketplace, from securities to real estate to credit cards to banking. In particular, many of its sweeping provisions are likely, although they are not expressly intended to do so, to have long-term consequences for the equipment leasing and finance industry and for leasing counsel. The continuing uncertainty surrounding many of Dodd-Frank's provisions, and the ambiguity regarding its application, signal the need for counsel to be as informed as possible of its myriad new regulations, requirements, and implications.