Factbox: Key players in reshaping U.S. financial rules

00:23 18Feb10 -FACTBOX-Key players in reshaping U.S. financial rules

(Reuters) - U.S. Senator Bob Corker, a first-term Republican, emerged last week as a key personality in the push to tighten financial regulation, along with Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd, a Democrat.

The two are negotiating toward a compromise bill that analysts expect to emerge within weeks.

The committee's top Republican, Senator Richard Shelby, had reached an impasse earlier this month in talks with Dodd.

The House of Representatives approved a comprehensive financial reform bill in December, with no Republican support.

Below are snapshots of key financial reform players:

CHRISTOPHER DODD, SENATE BANKING COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN

The silver-tongued, snowy-haired committee chairman has some tough decisions to make soon that will shape his legacy.

The son of a senator, he won election to the House of Representatives in 1974. He went to the Senate in 1980 and was reelected four times, but the last two years were difficult ones for him.

In 2008, he ran briefly for the presidency, got few primary votes and quit the race. In 2009, amid controversy, he promised to refinance two mortgages taken out through a VIP program with troubled home lender Countrywide Financial Corp. He said the loans were proper, but they hurt him politically.

So did his role in limiting executive pay at bailed-out firms, such as American International Group (AIG.N). He was criticized over a loophole that let AIG executives get big bonuses anyway. He said he had not intended for that to happen, but again, damage was done.

Dodd underwent prostate cancer surgery in August 2009. Days later Senator Edward Kennedy died, leaving Dodd to take over his close friend's drive for healthcare reform, which stalled.

Dodd, 65, announced in January that he would not seek re-election in November, releasing him from political pressures surrounding the financial reform effort.

In November, he had proposed a raft of tough reforms that he and Shelby failed to reach agreement on. Last week, Dodd and Corker said they were beginning their own negotiations.

BOB CORKER, SENATE BANKING COMMITTEE MEMBER

The outspoken, junior senator from Tennessee is a multimillionaire commercial property developer and construction company owner who was mayor of Chattanooga. He was elected to the Senate in 2006.

In his brief career on Capitol Hill, the quick-witted 57-year-old businessman, with an Appalachian twang in his Southern accent, has become a fund-raising powerhouse for Republicans, while opposing federal bailouts for automakers.

In recent weeks, he has worked closely with Democratic Senator Mark Warner on two key areas of financial reform -- developing a "resolution authority" for the government to unwind nonbank financial firms that are in distress, and defining a new way to monitor and manage "systemic risk."

Corker defied Senate traditions of seniority last week by agreeing to negotiate with Dodd on financial reform on behalf of Republicans, a job that had belonged to Shelby.

RICHARD SHELBY, SENATE BANKING COMMITTEE'S TOP REPUBLICAN

The patient, cool-headed senior senator from Alabama -- often the tallest man in the room -- holds immense sway over the financial reform debate in the committee he once chaired.

Although he and Dodd hit an impasse in negotiations, Shelby is sure to keep his hand in the game, waiting as usual for the deal to come to him, Senate aides said.

A lawyer with a distinctive Southern drawl, Shelby, 75, was first elected to the House in 1978, as a Democrat. He moved to the Senate in 1986 and switched parties in 1994.

He has persisted since then in charting his own political course and was the only Republican to vote against financial services industry deregulation in November 1999. He chaired the banking committee from 2003-08.

Without some show of support from Shelby, Dodd will be hard-pressed to win Senate passage of financial reform.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT

The charismatic U.S. president wants to rein in the financial sector and end decades of deregulation, rising banker bonuses and reckless Wall Street risk-taking blamed by many for the recent financial crisis that rocked economies worldwide.

Since unveiling a comprehensive set of reform proposals in mid-2009, he has waited for months for Congress to act.

In January, he complicated negotiations by proposing a new so-called Volcker rule to limit risk-taking by banks. Congress is not expected to weave the whole rule into its legislation, but will likely include a pared-back version resembling language already in the House bill.

PAUL VOLCKER, WHITE HOUSE ECONOMIC ADVISER

At 82, the former Fed chairman is a legend in his own time. Last month, he almost unexpectedly rose to renewed prominence as an adviser to Obama on fixing the banking sector.

Known for vanquishing stagflation during the Carter and Reagan administrations, the 6-foot-7-inch Volcker commands deep bipartisan respect. Obama brought him into the White House early on, but in 2009, he seemed to be having little impact.

Then in January, Obama stunned markets with a three-part proposal to limit banks' proprietary trading, get them out of the hedge fund and private equity business, and limit their future growth through a new market share cap.

The proposals became known as "the Volcker rule" and Congress is still figuring out what to do about it.

Keywords: FINANCIAL REGULATION/PLAYERS

BEN BERNANKE, FEDERAL RESERVE CHAIRMAN

The stoic, bearded U.S. central bank chief late last month weathered sharp criticism and won Senate confirmation to a second, four-year term. Now he faces a fight in Congress over the Fed's future role as a banking supervisor.

Under Bernanke, a 56-year-old former Princeton University economics professor, the Fed 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 (C.N) and Bank of America (BAC.N).

TIMOTHY GEITHNER, TREASURY SECRETARY

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

That may be good for Geithner, 48, whom some lawmakers have said should resign. Obama has stood firmly by his Treasury secretary, however, amid signs of economic recovery.

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.

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.

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.

She is a self-described moderate Republican. Appointed by former President George W. Bush, her term expires in 2011.

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.

Gensler's role in the debate is ironic. Years ago, he was part of 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.

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

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 at the Treasury Department as assistant secretary for domestic finance.

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 in December that achieved much of the administration's original reform agenda. If Dodd can get a bill passed in the Senate, 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, Mark Felsenthal and Diane Bartz; Editing by Gary Crosse))