Stories related to: Senate Banking Committee

A Senate committee is close to agreeing on expansion of a government insurance program for refinanced mortgages, the Wall Street Journal reports. Though ridden with partisan conflict as recently as a week ago, staff for Democrat Chris Dodd and Republican Richard Shelby said today the sides were nearing a compromise, and a vote to move the measure along could come in the next few hours. More »

Bear Stearns was just hours from collapse, and letting it go down would have been disastrous, executives and regulators argued on Capital Hill today while defending the controversial bailout, the New York Times reports. Without the takeover, “we would all be facing a far more dire set of challenges,” said JPMorgan CEO James Dimon, citing the possibility of a mass run on other investment banks. More »

Lawmakers are suddenly coming together on housing, with Republicans supporting a bill they left for dead two weeks ago, and Democrats cooling the political rhetoric for a change. The difference: those two weeks were spent back home with constituents, Politico notes. “Unless every member of the Senate was in a cave over recess, it’s clear that gas prices and housing were the most important issues,” said GOP Sen. Johnny Isakson. More »

The Senate voted 94-1 to move a housing legislation package into formal consideration today, reports the New York Times . Banking committee chair Chris Dodd and ranking Republican Richard Shelby now have until noon tomorrow to work out a compromise acceptable to both parties. “Inaction is not an option," said Dodd. "Failure is not an option." More »

The controversial acquisition of Bear Stearns by rival JP Morgan Chase, aided by billions of dollars of government credit, is about to become one of the most scrutinized deals in Wall Street history. Two separate Senate investigations will soon be under way, one by the Banking Committee and another by the Finance Committee, reports the New York Times . More »

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke signaled today that further interest rate cuts might be necessary, citing continuing fallout from the credit and housing market collapses, reports the Wall Street Journal . Bernanke told the Senate Banking Committee he expected "a period of sluggish growth, followed by a somewhat stronger pace of growth starting later this year as the effects of monetary and fiscal stimulus begin to be felt." More »