White House says executive order does not apply to independent regulators

The White House confirmed on Monday that a new executive order to slash regulations will not apply to independent regulatory agencies such as the Securities and Exchange Commission, a spokeswoman said.

President Donald Trump complained about the Dodd-Frank Wall Street reform law in a meeting with small business owners, in which he referred to the law as a "disaster." He made his remarks shortly before signing the executive order.

However, most of the regulators tasked with writing rules and implementing Dodd-Frank are independent, and therefore are not covered by the order.

(This story corrects to say the president made his remarks about Dodd-Frank shortly before the signing of the executive order, not during the signing)

(Reporting by Sarah N. Lynch and Ayesha Rascoe; Editing by Chris Reese)