Senate Closer to Taking Up CFPA

The full Senate is closer to taking up the financial services regulatory reform bill now that Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala., has declared an impasse in his negotiations with Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn. Sen. Shelby noted that the Dodd bill goes too far in regulating derivatives and creating a consumer protection agency with "unchecked authority." But he can no longer expect his fellow Republicans to block consideration of the bill by the full Senate. "Now that my negotiations with chairman Dodd have reached an impasse, I thank my Republican colleagues for their support and defer to their individual judgments on whether the Senate begins debate on this bill," Sen. Shelby said. Senate Democrats tried three times this week to bring the Dodd bill to the Senate floor and start the amendment process but the Republicans blocked it. Senate debate on the reform bill is slated to start Thursday afternoon. "It has been obvious for some time that we are going to have a banking bill this year and this moves it one step closer," said lobbyist Jim Butera of Butera & Andrews.