Steve Bartlett: Dodd-Frank Act, More Laborious than the Panama Canal

Steve Bartlett sees the Fed Stress test as an all-around success, showing that the nations biggest banks are far better capitalized, and with much less risk than three years ago. However, while the Dodd Frank Act has brought forth some needed reform, it also contains some excesses that will need review down the road. "It is clear now that the overall effect of Dodd-Frank is far greater and far more negative than, I think, anyone would have thought," the Financial Services Roundtable President and CEO told Squawk Box on CNBC. "At some point, whether that is 2012 or 2013, Congress will have to take a better look at its excesses to make it into a more workable law. Otherwise, over the long run," he says, "the economy will suffer." "Pretty much any part of Dodd-Frank that comes with a name attached to it is suspect," Bartlett notes, pointing at the Volcker, Lincoln, Collins and Durbin rules as examples of statutes where regulation goes too far and tries to micromanage banking level decision. "I think I saw somewhere estimates that the cost of Dodd-Frank in terms of hours is 22 million person-hours, which is 2 million more than [what it took for] the Panama Canal," Bartlett points. "At least with the Panama Canal, we got a canal out of it. I am not sure what we will get out of Dodd-Frank," he says. "The dead weight of Dodd-Frank has to be revisited." Bartlett was, however, upbeat on what he saw as the positives of the law, seeing the Fed stress test as very constructive. "It showed that our banks are much readier now to finance the economy than they have ever been. It is nice to know that even in the face of admittedly draconian conditions of a negative 8 percent GDP and 13 percent unemployment, our banks are ready with far better capitalization and lower risk," concluded Bartlett.