House Passes Banking Reform Bill
Senate Not Expected to Act Until 2010 House lawmakers on Friday approved a giant legislative bill that would significantly increase the regulation of U.S. financial institutions and other corporations.The legislation is the most sweeping piece of regulatory change since the Great Depression and would place new restrictions on the activities of the nation's biggest banks. It also would limit the power of the Federal Reserve and create the Consumer Financial Protection Agency.
Bank reform legislation has been introduced in the Senate, but is not expected to be approved until next year.
The legislative package passed in a vote of 223-202 with no Republican representative voting in favor of the bill. The 1,279-page bill, along with creating the new federal consumer protection agency, would: