White House threatens veto against Dodd-Frank change

The White House said Tuesday that President Obama would veto legislation the House will pass this week to change the Dodd-Frank financial reform law in an effort to boost small business investment.

The White House said it “strongly opposes” the Small Business Capital Access and Job Preservation Act, H.R. 1105, and said Obama would veto the bill if it made it to his desk.

{mosads}The legislation, which the House will consider Wednesday, would eliminate a Dodd-Frank requirement that says private equity fund investment advisers have to register with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). GOP supporters of the bill say this change would help make it easier for these advisers to make investments in small companies.

But the White House said taking away the registration requirement would be a “step backwards” from Dodd-Frank’s effort to create a safer, more stable financial system.

“The bill’s passage would deny investors access to important information intended to increase transparency and accountability and to minimize conflicts of interest,” the White House said in a Statement of Administration Policy (SAP). “Moreover, H.R. 1105 would exempt private equity funds from the disclosure requirements that the Congress laid out in Wall Street Reform to allow regulators to assess potential systemic risks.”

The White House did say it supports another bill that could come up this week aimed at reducing frivolous patent litigation. In a separate SAP, the White House said it supports H.R. 3309, the Innovation Act.

That bill would create new requirements with entities that file patent litigation, which is an attempt to weed out frivolous suits filed by so-called “patent trolls.”

“The bill builds on the important patent reforms contained in the America Invents Act and successfully implemented by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office,” the SAP said. “The bill would improve incentives for future innovation while protecting the overall integrity of the patent system.”