The House Financial Services Committee is set to begin consideration of several bills that are key to achieving financial regulatory reform.  Financial Services Chairman Barney Frank (D-MA) will convene a full committee markup on October 14, and is prepared for the session to span the course of multiple days, if necessary.

On the agenda are draft pieces of legislation to create a Consumer Financial Protection Agency and to regulate the over-the-counter derivatives market.  In addition, legislation that would exclude some businesses under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (H.R. 3763) and a bill to provide credit card abuse protection to consumers (H.R. 3639) are up for consideration.

In the Senate, Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd (D-CT) continues to confer with Ranking Republican Richard Shelby (R-AL) in hopes of achieving a bipartisan consensus on financial regulatory reform.  Senator Dodd has stated he wants a committee vote on a bill in early November, so that it can be prepped for consideration on the Senate floor in the coming months.

The goal in both the House and Senate has been to enact reform this year, though many have acknowledged that the deadline could slip to 2010 due to the crowded legislative calendar.

We will continue to monitor this evolving legislative situation and will provide updates on InsureReinsure.com.