The Dodd-Frank Mishmash

Dodd-Frank legislation created tools for the government's attempt to identify and manage systemic risk, including more stringent capital requirements for banks, and to provide extensive oversight of the derivatives market,

It also attempted a mechanism for government shut down of large financial institutions when failure could trigger a broad debacle. And it called for a new consumer watchdog group under the Federal Reserve, to prevent deceptive financial products.

One goal was to eliminate the danger of firms that are "too big to fail" -- that a bailout would be the only alternative to a crash of the entire system. This 'too big to fail' mentality." persists, however, despite the Dodd-Frank legislation.

With the new law, the government has the power to take down any firm that poses a risk to the entire financial system, whether or not the troubled firm is actually a bank.