Regulatory enforcement against US financial services firms has sharply declined in the first half of 2025, according to new findings from Wolters Kluwer’s Regulatory Violations Intelligence Index.
The report shows enforcement actions fell 37% compared to the second half of 2024, reflecting the Trump administration’s accelerated deregulatory push.
Monetary penalties also dropped significantly, falling 32% across financial, consumer-protection and competition-related violations, the research revealed. The shift highlights the speed and scale of the administration’s efforts to reduce oversight of financial institutions by rolling back key elements of the 2010 Dodd-Frank Act and scaling down the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB).
Wolters Kluwer compliance management programme leader Chuck Ross said, “We’re witnessing a fundamental transformation in federal enforcement priorities. While deregulation was anticipated under the new administration, the velocity and magnitude of this enforcement pullback exceeds even the most aggressive predictions.”
The report pointed to streamlined enforcement activity at federal agencies, particularly at the Securities and Exchange Commission and the CFPB. Rather than wide-ranging regulatory actions, these bodies have focused on select, high-profile cases, signalling a change in approach to financial oversight.
Across the index’s categories, 99 enforcement actions were recorded in the first six months of 2025, compared with 158 in the previous period. Financial penalties for competition violations, including antitrust and corruption cases, fell 97%. This decline was largely attributed to a four-month pause in Foreign Corrupt Practices Act enforcement by the Department of Justice.
Elaine Duffus, a regulatory compliance expert at Wolters Kluwer, said the federal retreat has left the financial industry with much greater discretion over compliance. “Banks and financial institutions no longer have as much guidance around regulations and best practices, leaving corporate boards to come up with the risk appetites around everything,” she said. “The good news is there’s not a lot of enforcement. The bad news is you have to figure out how to do this on your own in many cases.”
Ross added that corporate compliance programmes should remain strong despite the federal pullback. He pointed to the growing role of state-level enforcement, especially in consumer protection. “History shows us that enforcement pendulums swing,” he said. “Those who mistake the current deregulatory regime as the new normal do so at their own peril—especially as states fill the enforcement void.”
The report underscores how the deregulatory stance in Washington has shifted responsibility onto financial institutions themselves and on state regulators, raising questions about the long-term resilience of compliance frameworks.
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