And away we go …

The U.S. House of Representatives has passed a sweeping redesign of federal financial regulations that, according to the Associated Press, “would give the government new powers to break up companies that threaten the economy, create a new agency to oversee consumer banking transactions and shine a light into shadow financial markets that have escaped the oversight of regulators.”

The House Committee on Financial Services offers this list of provisions that are included in the bill.

What the bill doesn't do is subject accounting standards to new regulation. Nor does it subject CPAs to regulation by the proposed Consumer Financial Protection Agency. In addition, the bill would exempt some small and mid-size public companies from the internal control audit requirements found in Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act.

Read more about what all this means for CPAs in WebCPA's terrific summary of bill's key provisions.

Of course, this is merely Round 1. The Senate has yet to consider the bill, and likely won't until well after the new year. Stay tuned …