More tea leaves about how the new Trump Administration will approach regulation were steeped during a Wednesday interview on CNBC’s "Squawk Box" with Steven Mnuchin and Wilbur Ross, selected, respectively, as Treasury and Commerce secretaries.

On Dodd Frank:

Mnuchin: “We look forward to working with [Rep. Jeb] Hensarling [a Republican from Texas, chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, author of the Dodd-Frank Act-gutting CHOICE Act, and a once-rumored consideration for Treasury Secretary] and the other people in Congress on this. One of the good things about Wilbur and I, we have actually been bankers. We were the only two people during the financial crisis that were issued licenses. We've been in the business of regional banking and we understand what it is to make loans. That's the engine of growth to small and medium-sized businesses. The number one problem with Dodd-Frank is it is way too complicated and cuts back lending. So we want to strip back parts of Dodd-Frank. That will be the number one priority on the regulatory side.”

On the Volcker Rule:

Ross: “Many of the smaller banks have had to get to the point where they now have more compliance people than they have lending offices. That's crazy.”

Mnuchin: “The number one problem with the Volcker Rule is that it is too complicated and people don't know how to interpret it. So we're going to look at what to do with it, as we are with all of Dodd-Frank. The number one priority is going to be make sure that banks lend.”

Topics