Reaction to reform bill

The instant analysis stuff doesn't work very well for such a complex piece of legislation - and one that's still hazy in a number of areas. I've seen comments about this being terrible for banks and inconsequential for banks (Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America are all higher this morning, so that might give you a clue). The new consumer protections seem pretty significant, though you can bet the lawyers are already trying to figure out ways around the more onerous requirements. The biggest gripe about the legislation is likely to be its political sensibility (what do you expect?). From the NYT:

Cornelius Hurley, a professor at the Boston University School of Law and a former counsel to the Federal Reserve Board of Governors, saw deficiencies. "They missed the crisis," he said. "The crisis they're dealing with now is the November elections. This is a bill, despite its length and complexity, that's more geared to the elections than the financial system." He said that the bill would inevitably be revised and that "in no way does it address the too-big-to-fail issue."

"The credit ratings agencies keep rating the too-big-to-fail banks higher than everybody else, and they say it's because of the implicit government support," he added. "There will be a lot of regulatory costs," Mr. Hurley said. "There will be a lot of motion, smoke -- but not fire -- as we go through the regulatory process. There's going to be ton of activity, but at its core we're going to be back where we were the day that Lehman failed."