WASHINGTON - The House and Senate banking panels are expected to hold hearings on deposit insurance reform during the next few weeks.
Industry sources said House Financial Services' financial institutions subcommittee will hold its second hearing on the subject July 26, with Comptroller of the Currency John D. Hawke Jr., departing Office of Thrift Supervision Director Ellen Seidman, and Federal Reserve Board and Treasury Department officials expected to testify.
Meanwhile, Senate Banking's financial institutions subcommittee is planning its first of a promised series of hearings on reform for Aug. 2. Sen. Tim Johnson, who became subcommittee chairman last month, has emerged as a champion of reform, and he announced Tuesday that the hearings were in part prompted by fears that the ratio of federal reserves to insured deposits could soon fall below the statutory limit of 1.25%.
"It is my hope that, as we bring together industry leaders, academic experts, and former and current regulatory officials, we can put together a reform package that makes sense," the South Dakota Democrat said in a prepared statement.
