Calls Resume for Single Banking Regulator; Plan Shelved by Broad Criticism Is Pushed Back Onto the Table by Lawmakers
The Obama administration is facing new pressure from key Democratic and Republican lawmakers to centralize banking oversight in a single regulator, a proposal the White House had seriously considered before shelving it as widespread opposition grew.</br></br>Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.), a leading voice on financial policy and vice chairman of the Joint Economic Committee, urged Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner in a letter yesterday to propose a single banking regulator and dispense with the alphabet soup of agencies that now oversee banks.</br></br>Republicans on the House Financial Services Committee also proposed yesterday that one agency be responsible for bank supervision. They called for stripping existing powers from the Federal Reserve and Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and merging the Office of Thrift Supervision and Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.</br></br>The salvos presaged what could be a massive congressional debate after the Obama administration formally proposes its plan for overhauling financial regulations. An announcement is scheduled for June 17.</br></br>While some lawmakers are wary of consolidating power into few agencies as originally favored by top Obama officials, others on Capitol Hill worry the administration isn't planning to take on entrenched interests.