A big unresolved issue from 2008 is what to do with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which were put into conservatorship with the idea that policymakers would chart a new future for them.
So far, however, no one has appeared interested in taking up the issue. House Republicans complained about inaction prior to 2010, but once they seized control of the chamber they largely stopped mentioning the issue.
The Treasury Department, meanwhile, outlined three vague options for reform in 2011 – and then declined to say which one it preferred. Geithner promised more details on a plan last spring, but never followed through. Since he is on the way out, it's unclear when the issue will be addressed.
"There's no mandate from this election to do anything about Fannie and Freddie," said Jaret Seiberg, a managing director at Guggenheim Partners. "It's almost impossible to see quick action by the Congress and the White House."
4. Does Dodd-Frank implementation speed up?
Although regulators claim not to be caught up in presidential politics, many observers argue the banking agencies have been holding off on finalizing controversial provisions of Dodd-Frank until after the election.
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, for example, has repeatedly delayed finalizing a rule defining "qualified mortgages" that would be exempt from a requirement that lenders to ensure borrowers have the ability to repay a loan.
Regulators are widely expected to move forward shortly on many outstanding issues, including QM, its sister regulation defining "qualified residential mortgages" and the Volcker Rule ban on proprietary trading.
"What we have from this election is a reinforcement of the Dodd-Frank Act, and that we will continue down this path," said Boltansky. "It means we will have the full enactment of Basel III, it means we'll have the finalization of the Volcker Rule, it means this year we're going to have QM and QRM done. ... We were going down a road yesterday and there was an exit off of the Dodd-Frank rulemaking highway. Americans decided to stay on the highway."
But others are hopeful that freed from campaign politics the administration may encourage regulators to dial back on certain regulations for fear they could harm the economy.
"Reelection could give them the benefit of perhaps recognizing unintended consequences and adapting accordingly," said John Bowman, a partner at law firm Venable and former acting director at the Office of Thrift Supervision. "I don't know that implementation will speed up. The issues that are still out there are very complicated. There are a number of consequences that I think the regulators, and hopefully various people on Capitol Hill, are coming to appreciate are going to have unintended results."
