FACTBOX: Major U.S. financial regulators face shake-up

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Obama administration and lawmakers from both parties in Congress want to shake up the federal agencies that regulate the U.S. financial system.

Proposals for restructuring face resistance from financial interests and established bureaucracies, however, despite the failure of existing regulators to prevent the current crisis.

Here are the major regulators involved, their duties and changes they may face:

* TREASURY DEPARTMENT

Treasury is a cabinet-level department tasked primarily with financing the government and collecting taxes. It plays a major role in bond markets. It regulates banks mainly through two units: the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) and the Office of Thrift Supervision (OTS).

Officials and key lawmakers seem determined to eliminate the OTS which was the primary regulator for failed lenders like Countywide Financial and Washington Mutual. One idea floated by the Obama team would create a single banking regulator that could also take over bank supervision duties, though this seems to have fallen out of favor among officials.

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner is an important shepherd for Barack Obama's financial regulation reform. He coordinates administration strategy and manages the $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program, which has been used to bail out insurer AIG, automakers General Motors and Chrysler LLC, as well as major banks including Citigroup and Bank of America.

* OFFICE OF THE COMPTROLLER OF THE CURRENCY

OCC charters, regulates and supervises national banks, including some of the nation's largest. Formed in 1863, it has about 3,000 employees and is led by Comptroller John Dugan.

* OFFICE OF THRIFT SUPERVISION

OTS regulates thrift institutions. Formed after the 1980s-1990s savings and loan crisis, OTS has about 1,000 employees. John Bowman is acting director of OTS.

* FEDERAL RESERVE

The Fed is an independent agency that controls the nation's monetary policy, while also supervising state-chartered banks that opt into the Fed system. Created in 1913, it has about 2,700 employees involved in supervision and regulation.

The Fed under Chairman Ben Bernanke has radically expanded its role in the economy, injecting hundreds of billions of dollars of liquidity into the financial system.

Officials seem to favor giving the Fed responsibility as a "systemic risk regulator" that would supervise the largest financial services companies. Some lawmakers, though, would like to see the Fed pass its consumer-protection duties to a new regulator.

* FEDERAL DEPOSIT INSURANCE CORP

The FDIC is an independent agency that protects consumers by insuring deposits in banks and thrifts. It also examines state-chartered banks that do not join the Fed system, and is funded through fees that banks pay for deposit insurance.

Created in 1933 during the Great Depression, the agency has about 5,000 employees. It is chaired by Sheila Bair, an outspoken advocate for financial reform and consumer protections who has many allies on Capitol Hill.

The FDIC typically seized failing banks before they collapse and officials would like to see the agency use its expertise to dismantle the largest financial companies before they fall.

* SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

The SEC regulates public corporations, stock exchanges, brokers, mutual funds, municipal bonds and corporate auditors. Formed in 1934, it has about 3,500 employees and is led by Chairman Mary Schapiro.

Some lawmakers favor merging the SEC with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, arguing that the two agencies do closely similar work.

But such a combination is viewed as unlikely due to resistance from the agencies themselves and conflicts in Congress between committees that separately oversee the SEC and CFTC and refuse to surrender their jurisdictions.

The SEC's role as an investor rights watchdog will likely be preserved even if a new consumer-protection agency is formed.

* COMMODITY FUTURES TRADING COMMISSION

The CFTC oversees commodity and financial futures. With about 490 employees, it was formed in 1974.

Gary Gensler, its new chairman, opposes merging the agency with the SEC. Both agencies are expected to play key roles in the administration's proposal to regulate the over-the-counter derivatives market.

(Reporting by Patrick Rucker, Kevin Drawbaugh, Karey Wutkowski, John Poirier, Glenn Somerville, Alister Bull, David Lawder and Christopher Doering; Editing by James Dalgleish)