February, 26, 2010

The Federal Reserve, once in danger of being stripped of its bank supervision powers by the Senate, is getting a second look from key lawmakers amid a new flurry of bipartisan negotiations over a massive overhaul of the rules that govern Wall Street.Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., and Republican Sens. Richard Shelby and Bob Corker are now looking at letting the Fed keep some of its regulatory authority after all.

"The question before the committee is, do we exclude the Fed entirely or do we bring them back, keep some type of regulatory authority...with the Fed," Shelby said Thursday. Shelby has been one of the main critics of the Fed's conduct as a banking regulator. The surprise second-look comes as Shelby, who had reached a negotiating impasse with Dodd two weeks ago, re-entered the talks in a meeting with Dodd late Wednesday.

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