SEC Chairwoman Elisse Walter has announced that the agency is going forward in 2013 with rulemaking mandated under Dodd-Frank and the JOBS Act. This is despite the fact that the agency’s commissioners are split 2-2 on the issue. Expect the SEC to put out rules in 2013 that are consistent with the business-unfriendly legislation.
Non-Wall St. banks are seeing their costs move dramatically higher. They will do their best to pass those costs along to their customers, the same as we all would in our own businesses. Expect higher borrowing costs in 2013 as banks move to cover their bottom line.
More complete enactment of this legislation in 2014 and beyond can be expected to have a negative impact on businesses in the U.S. That negative impact will not be to the point of bringing on a recession, but it will increase the cost of doing business in the US for most firms. Readers should borrow now at what will prove to be extremely favorable terms. Let your competitors wait and watch them put themselves at a cost disadvantage.
