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| Financial Reform to be Debated This Weekend |
This will be a busy weekend for negotiations in the U.S. Senate over financial reform legislation.
At issue are the bill's tough proposals on consumer protection, creation of a fund to handle future financial crises and controls on the complex financial derivatives markets.
U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) says the choice for senators is black and white. He spoke at a press conference today at the plaza next to the Chicago Board of Trade, across the street from the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago. "The question is, will we make the Wall Street institutions, the big banks that really got away with murder that led to this recession, more accountable," he said. "Will we demand transparency and accountability, so that we never have to pit America through a recession like this again?"
Durbin is particularly interested in a Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which would have to approve the terms and conditions of any financial product marketed to consumers.
Durbin says the 57 Democrats and the two independents in the Senate who caucus with the Democrats are committed to supporting the bill that is a product of the Senate Banking Committee. However, Republicans have threatened a filibuster, which they can do unless one decides to support the bill. Durbin says support from Republicans so far is zero.
The financial industry, business groups and many Senate Republicans oppose several provisions, including a requirement that large banks such as Goldman Sachs and Bank of America spin off their derivatives-trading operations into subsidiaries. Industry executives argued that this could drive lucrative derivatives business overseas.
A vote is scheduled for Monday to begin formal debate on the bill.
(Illinois Radio Network, which used information from the Chicago Tribune) |
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| 04 23 10 by Newsroom |
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