Dodd to Unveil Own Financial Rules Overhaul Measure (Update1)

March 11 (Bloomberg) -- Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd said he will release his version of legislation to overhaul financial rules, signaling that talks on a compromise with Republican Bob Corker have collapsed.

Dodd, a Connecticut Democrat who had been negotiating with Corker since last month, will release his proposal March 15 and hold a committee meeting to consider changes in two weeks, according to a statement released today.

“I have been fortunate to have a strong partner in Senator Corker and my new proposal will reflect his input and the good work done by many of our colleagues,” Dodd said. “Our talks will continue and it is still our hope to come to agreement on a strong bill all of the Senate can be proud to support.”

Corker agreed to work with Dodd after talks broke down in February between Dodd and Senator Richard Shelby, the top Republican on the committee, over consumer protection issues. The bill is aimed at strengthening Wall Street rules to prevent a future financial crisis and a repeat of taxpayer bailouts of firms like American International Group Inc. and Citigroup Inc.

Dodd will release a “substitute” of legislative language he offered in November, which called for creating a stand-alone Consumer Financial Protection Agency and a national bank regulator in the merger of four agencies.

The new Dodd bill will include some elements negotiated with Corker. For example, it won’t propose the stand-alone agency, which Corker opposed, and will probably put the consumer unit in the Federal Reserve with an independent budget, a director appointed by the president and some enforcement powers, according to a person with direct knowledge of the plan.

“It has always been my goal to produce a consensus package,” Dodd said in the statement. “And we have reached a point where bringing the bill to the full committee is the best course of action to achieve that end.”

Markup Scheduled

Dodd said he planned a committee markup meeting to consider amendments the week of March 22. The House passed its version of the legislation in December. The measure is based on a proposal President Barack Obama released in June to create a mechanism for unwinding failing financial firms, and strengthening consumer protections and derivatives oversight.

The main sticking point in Senate negotiations has been how to interpret Obama’s plan to create an independent consumer agency. Dodd and other Democrats supported the idea, while Republicans opposed it, saying it would create a new bureaucracy and separate banking and consumer regulation.

Corker of Tennessee proposed creating a consumer unit at the Federal Reserve and Dodd appeared amenable to the idea while insisting that the consumer unit have some autonomy, including its own rule-writing and enforcement powers.

As Dodd prepares to introduce the legislation, current and former members of the Federal Reserve Board’s Consumer Advisory Council tomorrow will announce opposition to giving the Fed oversight for consumer protection.

To contact the reporter on this story: Alison Vekshin in Washington at avekshin@bloomberg.net.