— Senate Majority Leader Says Senate Will Vote To End Debate Thursday
— ‘Hopeful and Confident’ Has Enough Votes To Pass Reg Bill
— Dems Will Pass Reg Bill With ‘A Few Brave Republicans’
— Senate Minority Leader Says Reg Bill ‘Stayed On The Far Left’

By John Shaw

WASHINGTON (MNI) – Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said Tuesday
the Senate will hold a key procedural vote Thursday on the final
financial regulatory reform bill, adding that he hopes to complete
action on the bill that day as well.

In comments to reporters after a Democratic policy luncheon, Reid
said he is “hopeful and confident” that he has the 60 votes needed to
end the debate and pass the bill.

Reid said the bill will pass with the support of most Democrats and
a “few brave Republicans.”

If Reid secures the 60 votes Thursday to end the debate on the
regulatory reform bill, the Senate could debate the matter for up to 30
hours.

Reid said that if Republicans demand to use those 30 hours, the
final Senate vote will be held Saturday.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, speaking after Reid, said
the regulatory reform bill is not acceptable to the vast majority of
Senate Republicans.

The bill, he said, “stayed on the far left” as it worked its way
through the legislative process.

Two weeks ago, the House passed the sweeping package of financial
regulatory reforms on a mostly party line, 237 to 192 vote.

While it will only require a majority vote in the Senate to pass
the bill, Democratic leaders need 60 votes to cut off the debate in the
upper chamber.

Of the 58 Democratic and independent senators, 57 have said they
will vote for the final bill. Only Sen. Russ Feingold, a Democrat from
Wisconsin, has said he won’t vote for the legislation.

Four Senate Republicans voted for the Senate’s regulatory reform
bill in late May: Scott Brown of Massachusetts, Susan Collins and
Olympia Snowe of Maine, and Chuck Grassley of Iowa.

In recent days, Collins, Snowe and Brown have said they will vote
for the final version of the bill. Grassley has said that he is still
studying the bill.

Democratic leaders needed only three of these four Republicans to
vote to end the debate on the bill.

The underlying bill would create a council of regulators to monitor
the economy for systemic threats. It would institute new regulations on
hedge funds and over-the-counter derivatives and create a Bureau of
Consumer Financial Protection that will oversee mortgage, credit cards
and other credit products.

The bill provides for expanded audits of the Federal Reserve by the
Government Accountability Office. The GAO would conduct a one time audit
of all the Fed’s emergency loan programs that were created during the
financial crisis. It would also have the authority to audit future
emergency lending and other Fed transactions, with a two year delay in
releasing the results.

The bill includes a variation of the Volcker rule, banning banks
from proprietary trading and limiting them from investing in or
sponsoring hedge funds and private equity funds. It limits bank
investments in private equity or hedge funds to 3% of a fund’s capital.
Total investment in private equity and hedge funds can’t exceed 3% of a
company’s tangible common equity.

The legislation would push most OTC derivatives through third party
clearinghouses and onto exchanges or electronic trading systems. It
would force banks to push some of their swaps trading into subsidiaries.

** Market News International Washington Bureau: (202) 371-2121 **

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