WASHINGTON – Senate Democrats narrowly blocked a filibuster on the bank bill waged by Republicans this morning and headed toward a final vote on the landmark bill, despite avid opposition by community banks and credit unions over the interchange amendment.
The Democrats received just the necessary 60 votes to block the filibuster and move to a final vote on the bill.
A final vote is expected on the bill as early as this afternoon, after which President Obama has pledged to sign it into law in the coming days.
The bill, now more than 2,300 pages long, will create an oversight scheme for too-big-to-fail financial institutions, develop a consumer financial protection agency, set new regulations for financial derivatives and set new standards for Wall Street ratings agencies.
The credit union lobby, CUNA and NAFCU, had offered lukewarm support for the bill until the final days when the amendment to regulate interchange fees on debit card transactions was added, prompting their opposition to the measure.
