FACTBOX: Key players in reshaping U.S. financial regulation

(Reuters) - Key personalities in the effort to overhaul U.S. financial regulation range from a young president who has challenged bankers to accept sweeping reforms to veteran lawmakers trying to balance the anger of voters with the powerful influence of Wall Street and banks.

CHRISTOPHER DODD, SENATE BANKING COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN

The silver-tongued, white-haired leader of the Senate's top panel on financial regulation, Dodd must make decisions this year that will shape the legacy of a 35-year political career.

As a backdrop, he faces a daunting reelection contest in November at home in Connecticut.

Rivals are hammering him over his connections to the financial industry and two mortgages he got in 2003 from Countrywide Financial Corp, once the nation's largest home lender that was acquired by Bank of America in 2008.

Dodd got the loans through a Countrywide VIP program. Critics said they represented a conflict of interest since Dodd's committee oversees mortgage lenders. A Senate ethics investigation followed. In February 2009, Dodd said he acted properly, refinanced the mortgages, apologized to the people of Connecticut over the episode, and made public all records related to the loans. The ethics investigation ended.

But for months now, Dodd's poll numbers have been weak. Some Democrats wonder if he can win another term.

Political demands are likely to color how he handles two major jobs in the Senate this year -- one as chief steward of financial reform, and the other in the healthcare debate.

Dodd is trying to fashion a financial reform bill to match one produced last month by the House. He has parceled out key issues to bipartisan teams on the committee. Some lawmakers say progress is being made. But deep disagreements are certain to challenge even one of the Senate's top consensus builders.

RICHARD SHELBY, SENATE BANKING COMMITTEE'S TOP REPUBLICAN

For a lawmaker whose party is out of power, the senior senator from Alabama holds immense sway over the financial reform debate in the committee that he once chaired.

Dodd needs Shelby to produce a bill with enough bipartisan support to win Senate floor passage. True to form, Shelby is sure to reap maximum advantage from this in private, while keeping his options open publicly on key issues.

A lawyer with a deep Southern drawl, Shelby was once a Democrat. He switched parties in 1994. Last month he voted against reconfirming Ben Bernanke as Federal Reserve chairman.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT

The U.S. president wants to rein in the financial sector and end decades of deregulation, rising bonuses and reckless risk-taking blamed by many for the 2008 financial crisis.

Having complained about "fat cat bankers," he last month urged banks to lend more money to small businesses and embrace reforms. In this, he is backed by most congressional Democrats. But more than a year since the crisis peaked, he is still waiting for Congress to produce a comprehensive reform bill.

BEN BERNANKE, FEDERAL RESERVE CHAIRMAN

Criticized over the crisis, the stoic U.S. central bank head last month weathered a stormy Senate Banking Committee confirmation hearing and faces a floor vote this month.

He will likely be reconfirmed for another four years, but not before lawmakers rip into the Fed's expanding role in the economy, which Bernanke's supporters say averted disaster.

The Fed under Bernanke has devoted hundreds of billions of dollars to propping up the banks, the housing market and the mortgage-backed securities market, while backing bailouts of AIG, Citigroup and Bank of America.

TIMOTHY GEITHNER, TREASURY SECRETARY

As Obama's point man on financial regulation reform, the youthful-looking Treasury secretary dominated the headlines in early and mid-2009, but Congress is at center stage now.

That may be good for Geithner, whom some lawmakers have said should resign. Obama has stood firmly by his Treasury secretary, however, amid signs of economic recovery.

Legislation approved by the House last month preserved much of Geithner's original reform proposals, but also had some compromises and surprises. He must now focus on the Senate.

LAWRENCE SUMMERS, NATIONAL ECONOMIC COUNCIL DIRECTOR

The White House's chief economic guru, Summers last year argued forcefully that banks owe it to the country to accept regulatory reform after taxpayers bailed out the industry.

A former Treasury secretary under President Bill Clinton, Summers works closely with Geithner on reforms, mostly behind the scenes. Summers has a reputation for brilliance as an economist, as well as for not suffering fools gladly.

He advised Obama during the presidential election campaign. Summers said in September that Congress could complete financial reforms in 2009, a goal set by Obama that was unmet.

SHEILA BAIR, FEDERAL DEPOSIT INSURANCE CORP CHAIRMAN

Popular in Congress and outspoken, the unflappable FDIC chairman is an advocate for tough financial reform and a fierce defender of her agency's turf as a bank supervisor.

She is a self-described moderate Republican, appointed by Bush. Her term expires in 2011. Like Bernanke and Summers, Bair was formerly an academic, having also worked at the Treasury Department, the New York Stock Exchange and on Capitol Hill.

GARY GENSLER, COMMODITY FUTURES TRADING COMMISSION CHAIRMAN

A former Treasury undersecretary, Gensler has tried to push Congress, with limited success, toward a firm crackdown on the $450-trillion over-the-counter derivatives market that includes compulsory clearing of over-the-counter derivative contracts.

Legislation approved by the House last month goes a long way toward accomplishing that, but exempt some so-called end-users of OTC derivatives, such as airlines and agribusinesses, from compulsory clearing. The bill under debate in the Senate proposes a narrower scope for exemptions.

Gensler's role in the debate is ironic. Years ago, he was part of the Treasury when it helped win passage of a law that exempted credit default swaps from tougher regulation.

MARY SCHAPIRO, SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION CHAIRMAN

Like Gensler, Schapiro came aboard last year amid talk that her agency and his might be merged as part of the Obama administration's reform agenda, but that idea was quickly shelved by congressional Democrats as politically impractical.

Turf issues between congressional committees and the agencies themselves convinced lawmakers that fighting a battle over merging the SEC and CFTC would detract and delay the administration's wider reform agenda.

Since then, Schapiro has been involved in the reform debate, although not as prominently as Geithner and Bernanke.

She has spent a lot of time defending the SEC from critics who accuse the agency of failure amid the worst financial crisis in decades and the $65-billion Bernie Madoff fraud.

JOHN DUGAN, COMPTROLLER OF THE CURRENCY

As a top supervisor of the nation's largest banks, Dugan is an ardent cheerleader of big bank interests, fighting to shield them from extra fees and the threat of government dismantling.

He stepped into his current role in 2005 after stints at the law firm of Covington and Burling, and as assistant secretary for domestic finance at the Treasury Department.

He has openly clashed with Bair at times, mostly over her more cautious approach to extending government aid to troubled firms and her bias to protect community bank interests.

BARNEY FRANK, HOUSE FINANCIAL SERVICES COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN

Among the slick bankers he deals with daily, the thorny representative from Massachusetts is an unusual character who last year emerged as chief architect in Congress of financial regulation reform and a key ally of the Obama administration.

Frank's short temper and sharp tongue win him few friends on Capitol Hill, but he is widely feared and respected for his ability as a lawyer, legislator and debater.

He pushed a bill through the House last month that achieved much, if not all of the administration's original reform objectives. The focus has moved to the Senate, but Frank will continue to have his say. If Dodd can produce a bill, Frank will play a central part in conference negotiations.

(Reporting by Kevin Drawbaugh, Glenn Somerville, Alister Bull, David Lawder, Christopher Doering, Karey Wutkowski, Rachelle Younglai, John Poirier and Diane Bartz; Editing by Andrew Hay)