Barney Frank, the former congressman who helped rewrite the rules of Wall Street, has died at 86. Frank, a Massachusetts Democrat, was a key architect of the Dodd-Frank Act, a sweeping regulatory overhaul passed in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis. To the City of London, his name became synonymous with tighter oversight and heightened compliance costs.
But he was also a trailblazer for LGBTQ+ rights, coming out as gay in 1987 and becoming the first openly gay member of Congress. For British markets, his death marks the end of an era. Frank's legacy is a mixed bag: he championed consumer protection but critics argue his reforms stifled lending and stoked volatility.
Gilt yields barely budged on the news, but the broader narrative of financial repression and government intervention will surely linger.
