Committee Sets Week of Oct. 13 for Voting on Reform Package

House Financial Services Committee will begin voting on a massive regulatory reform package during the week of Oct. 13, chairman Barney Frank, D-Mass., said. The first markup sessions will involve bills to set up a Consumer Financial Protection Agency and regulate derivatives. On the CFPA bill, Rep. Frank said banks would not have to pay extra assessments to the new agency because a substantial portion of the funding will come from the Federal Reserve Board. The CFPA bill drafted by Rep. Frank calls for the transfer of the Fed's regulatory authority over Truth in Lending Act and other consumer protection laws to the CFPA. "The Federal Reserve will be ceding a lot of power - that it has not used very much - and funding will come with it," Rep. Frank said. The committee chairman noted the Fed has increased it consumer protection efforts in the past few years. "In every case," he stressed, the Fed has acted only after a congressional committee initiated action.