Financial regulatory reform :regulators have faced challenges finalizing key reforms and unaddressed areas pose potential risks : report to congressional addressees.

" The 2007-2009 financial crisis resulted in unprecedented government actions to respond to the unfolding turmoil in the markets, including providing capital to many financial institutions and government conservatorship for others. Although many factors likely contributed to the crisis, gaps and weaknesses in the supervision and regulation of the U.S. financial system generally played an important role. In recognition of the need to improve the regulation of financial markets and institutions to minimize the potential for future crises, in 2009 GAO designated reform of the U.S. financial regulatory system as one of the high-risk issues facing the federal government. In July 2010, the Dodd-Frank Act directed regulators to implement reforms across a range of areas. To assess these efforts, GAO examined the (1) overall status of U.S. financial regulatory reforms arising from the act, (2) challenges affecting the implementation of the act, and (3) areas that pose continued risk. GAO analyzed data from private and regulatory sources on the status of required rulemakings, synthesized GAO s body of work on Dodd-Frank Act reforms, and interviewed financial regulators and industry and consumer groups on the status of and challenges to implementing reforms. "