Deal said near on U.S. finance reform

WASHINGTON, March 1 (UPI) -- U.S. Senate leaders are near agreement on creation of an agency to protect consumers of financial products and services, sources close to the talks said Monday.

Senate Banking Committee Chairman Chris Dodd, D-Conn., and Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., are close to agreement on a proposal that would require congressional Democrats to make significant concessions on reform legislation, The Washington Post reported.

Citing three sources described as familiar with the negotiations, the newspaper said Dodd and Corker were working on a proposal that would have such a regulator, within the Federal Reserve, appointed by the White House, with power to write rules on consumer protection, but leave enforcement up to banking regulators.

Among the remaining unresolved issues are the scope of a regulator's authority to make rules and whether such rules would cover financial institutions besides banks, the Post said.

"We do not have an agreement yet," Kirstin Brost, a spokeswoman for Dodd, said. "(Dodd) hopes to have a consensus bill in the coming days."