House Financial Services Committee Chair Barney Frank...(said that)... Senate Banking Committee Chair Chris Dodd, who is trying to reach a deal to gain Republican support for an effort to overhaul financial regulation. Frank expressed concerns about the structure of the Consumer Financial Protection Agency and called for a Senate vote on the bill, saying he wouldn't support bringing a weakened bill back to the House.
"I don't like it. On the consumer agency think it is much too weak; when I heard it would be lodged in the Federal Reserve, I thought it was a bad joke," Frank says. "The limitations over the powers, and the [exclusion of] pay day lenders -- I'm not happy with what I've seen so far. I would hope before anything like that happened that they might actually have a vote in the Senate on a better version...."
Dodd has been seeking Republican votes to avoid a potential filibuster on the floor of the Senate, but many question whether the Republicans could afford to obstruct a bill to restrict the banks with so much public anger against Wall Street. Frank believes that Senate leadership should call the GOP bluff.
Frank, who expressed concern about other parts of the bill, including resolution authorities for failing financial institutions, said he was awaiting further detail on the Senate plan and intended to speak to Dodd later tonight about the reform effort.
