Executive Order 13772, signed on February 3, 2017, represented one of the earliest deregulatory directives of the Trump administration. The order required federal financial regulators—including the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, Federal Reserve, FDIC, and Securities and Exchange Commission—to conduct formal reviews of regulations issued under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act and other financial oversight rules. Rather than repealing existing law directly, the executive order functioned as an institutional mandate, instructing agencies to identify regulations where costs exceeded benefits or that were deemed outdated, then to revise or eliminate them accordingly.

The practical effects rippled across the financial sector and the broader economy. Community banks faced modified capital reserve requirements that freed up lending capital but potentially reduced their resilience against market downturns. Disclosure obligations for securities offerings were streamlined, affecting transparency for retail investors evaluating investment opportunities. Lending standards were adjusted, enabling broader credit access while altering underwriting criteria that had been tightened after the 2008 financial crisis. Americans with mortgages, small business owners seeking loans, and retail investors all experienced tangible changes in how financial institutions operated and what information they were required to disclose.

This action established a pattern that would define the administration's economic approach: regulatory review as a vehicle for deregulation. The subsequent Trade Deficits emergency declaration, import surcharges, and duty-free suspension actions maintained this trajectory of reshaping the financial and commercial landscape through executive directives. Where early actions like EO 13772 focused on reducing regulatory burden through agency review, later proclamations employed tariffs and trade restrictions as economic tools, creating a comprehensive if sometimes contradictory vision of financial system reform.

The Dodd-Frank Act itself—the statutory target of the review process—was never formally repealed by Congress, making EO 13772's directive dependent on agency discretion in interpretation and implementation. Some regulatory rollbacks proceeded smoothly while others faced legal challenges and legislative resistance, particularly concerning consumer protection mechanisms. The order's long-term effects reflected competing priorities between financial system efficiency and consumer safeguards, with implementation varying across different regulatory agencies and subsequent administrations.