President Obama signed into law  the financial regulation bill (H.R. 4173), the Restoring American Financial Stability Act of 2010, which has been one of the White House’s top domestic priorities after the passage of health care legislation.

The legislation creates a Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which will have authority over a large segment of the financial industry and its rules and procedures. The 2,315-page bill, prompted by the 2008 financial collapse, creates the consumer protection bureau to craft and enforce regulations for banks on credit card and mortgage lending, establishes a new board of regulators to monitor large actions in the system and gives the government new authority to handle deteriorating firms that could drastically affect the markets.

Approximately 400 people attended the bill signing. The group included lawmakers, business leaders and other key players responsible for creating the legislation.