Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act
Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act (the Act) is an economic and financial legislation signed into law in 2018 in order to reform the regulations set by the Dodd-Frank Act. The Act is most known for easing restrictions set forth by Dodd-Frank by increasing the threshold banks must meet to be subject to certain regulations and oversight. Key provisions impact banking, housing, and consumer protection regulations.
Banking
Dodd-Frank set the “too big to fail asset threshold” from $50 billion; however, the Act increased the asset threshold to $250 billion. Therefore, banks without $250 billion in assets will no longer be subject to stress tests by the Federal Reserve Board. The Act also exempts banks with less than $10 billion in assets from the Volcker Rule, allowing those banks to proprietary trade. The Federal Reserve’s “Small Bank Holding Company Policy Statement” threshold was also increased from $1 billion to $3 billion if certain requirements are met.
Housing
The residential mortgages originated and maintained in a portfolio by banks or credit unions with less than $10 billion in assets are considered “qualified mortgages” under the Truth in Lending Act. Under the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act, certain banks and credit unions with less than $10 billion are exempt from establishing mandatory escrow accounts for certain high-priced residential mortgages.
Consumer Protection
Consumers can request that private student loan default information be excluded from their credit reports so long as they complete the requirements of a private lender’s loan rehabilitation program. Credit Reporting Agencies must follow requirements such as fraud alerts for consumer files and allow security freezes on credit reports.
[Last reviewed in March of 2026 by the Wex Definitions Team]
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