Is a Million-Dollar March on Washington Coming Soon?

The Guardian today led today with the headline, "Wall Street and Republican lawmakers thwart U.S. financial reforms."  Of the 380 rules supposed to be implemented at the end of the month, only 30 will be in effect.  U.S. financial service firms have launched extremely strong efforts to halt, or slow down implementation of the Dodd-Frank Act.  The corporation have launched the campaign despite lack of public support and the prior success of European regulators in implementing reforms more sweeping than those proposed in the U.S.

The changes mandated by Dodd-Frank will significantly change many markets.  Implementation will impose price controls, require significant increased in staffing, and restrict compensation programs, to name a few.  However, how far can U.S. regulators deviate from established international regulatory reforms?  Can the U.S. really ignore EU regulatory risk frameworks without setting the stage for additional problems in the future?  My bet is we have much less latitude than we all think.