I'm a lot more familiar with the consumer lending side of the DFA than the capitalization and securities components but that's consistent with what I know too. On the consumer lending side, the Act (and the agency it has created) have transformed the mortgage markets and basically made it impossible for lenders and brokers to pull the kind of crap they pulled in the 00's without a major liability bomb and no secondary market purchaser being willing to touch them with a 10 foot pole, and the agency has aggressively gone after predatory lending practices too. That has helped people a bunch -- and those non-bank lenders you speak of are right in their crosshairs. A new rule is about to drop all but banning payday loans too, so lots of good has come from the law.

On the securities side they at least regulated OTC derivatives and that alone is a big plus. Not to mention the capitalization requirements and stress testing -- maybe invasive but probably necessary.