(Bloomberg) -- Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has set the stage for a vote on one of the biggest rewrites of financial industry rules since the Dodd-Frank Act was passed nearly eight years ago.
McConnell filed a motion Thursday to advance legislation sponsored by Senate Banking Committee Chairman Mike Crapo that would bring regional banks and other financial firms regulatory relief that they've sought for years. The bill revises many parts of Dodd-Frank, including relieving smaller lenders from some of the strictest and most expensive post-crisis oversight.
The banking panel approved Crapo's bill with bipartisan support last year. The Idaho Republican told reporters Thursday that he is working on an amendment to incorporate changes passed by the House of Representatives. He said he has had discussions with Representative Jeb Hensarling, the Texas Republican who leads the House Financial Services Committee, about taking up the bill.
The bill is the culmination of years of work to change Dodd-Frank. It doesn't go nearly as far as some Republicans would like to go in gutting the 2010 law. For example, it doesn't make big changes to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau or repeal the Volcker Rule trading restrictions.
Moderate Democrats, particularly those facing tough re-election this year, were key to advancing the legislation. The Senate bill would raise to $250 billion from $50 billion the asset threshold for banks to be subjected to stricter Federal Reserve supervision for systemically important financial institutions.
To contact the reporter on this story: Elizabeth Dexheimer in Washington at edexheimer@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Jesse Westbrook at jwestbrook1@bloomberg.net, Gregory Mott
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