Washington, May 25 (IANS): US President Donald Trump signed into law on Thursday a bill that partially repeals the 2010 Dodd-Frank act, which imposed tighter financial regulations in response to the global financial meltdown of 2008.

"The legislation I'm signing today rolls back the crippling Dodd-Frank regulations that are crushing community banks and credit unions nationwide," Efe quoted Trump as saying after again calling the Dodd-Frank bill "a disaster".

The President was joined for the signing ceremony by Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin, Vice President Mike Pence, and lawmakers, including some Democrats who broke with their party to vote for the new bill.

Dodd-Frank reinforced capital requirements for banks, obliged large financial institutions to undergo annual stress tests and reduced the ability of banks to fund high-risk investments with their clients' deposits.

The bill signed into law by Trump softens some of Dodd-Frank's restrictions for smaller banks and financial firms by increasing from $50 billion to $250 billion the amount of assets needed for a bank to be subject to more regulations.

While supporters of the bill said their aim was to help smaller institutions such as community banks, the effect will be to limit the application of Dodd-Frank regulatory standards to just 13 US banks.