UPDATE 2-Sen Dodd to build off Obama financial reform base
* Dodd to call for single bank regulator -aides
* Dodd backs strong systemic risk council, consumer agency
* Treasury's Barr urges single, comprehensive reform (Adds bill details, Barr comments, background)
WASHINGTON, Nov 5 (Reuters) - Senator Christopher Dodd, chairman of the U.S. Senate Banking Committee, will introduce a financial regulation reform bill within days based on the Obama administration's mid-June proposal, with some key differences.
Dodd is expected to depart from the Obama plan by calling for more centralization of bank supervision, a more powerful inter-agency council on systemic risk and less power for the Federal Reserve, said congressional aides and analysts.
"We will use the administration's proposal as base text," Kirstin Brost, spokeswoman for Dodd, told Reuters.
The long-awaited Dodd bill will mark a renewed push for financial reform in the Senate, which has been busy for months with healthcare reform, while the House of Representatives has moved forward on tighter bank and capital market oversight.
Dodd has been deeply involved in the healthcare debate, but he has spoken out frequently this year on financial issues and his well-known positions will be reflected in the bill.
Republican backing for the bill is likely to be thin, analysts said, making it likely changes will be made in the committee debate process, which one industry lobbyist said may begin as soon as Nov. 19 and continue after Thanksgiving.
In mid-June, the administration made more than a dozen reform proposals. All of them have been subjects for months of closed-door banking committee research and negotiation.
(For details on Obama administration bill, please double-click on [ID:nN17343420]
Dodd has been an advocate for Obama's proposal to create a Consumer Financial Protection Agency to regulate mortgages, credit cards and other products. Dodd told reporters on Wednesday his bill will have a consumer protection provision.
CLOSING OTS NOT ENOUGH
The administration has called for closing the Office of Thrift Supervision, which regulates savings and loans. Dodd wants to do that and more by stripping other agencies of their bank supervision duties and centralizing the function.
Obama and House Democrats long ago backed away from this idea as too politically fractious. But Dodd is making it a key point of differentiation in his approach to reform.
He is expected to propose preserving some roles for the Federal Reserve and Federal Deposit Insurance Corp in banking supervision. Both need to stay involved to some extent to carry out their main roles on monetary policy and deposit insurance.
An administration official briefed by Dodd's staff said earlier this week there are ways to consolidate banking regulation further than what Obama originally put forth.
The official, who requested anonymity, said Dodd's bill represents a solid framework, but noted it will likely change significantly as it moves through the legislative process.
Dodd is also expected to propose forming a council of regulators to police systemic risk that would have more clout than a council proposed by the administration. Dodd has publicly endorsed the strong council approach for some time.
His bill is also expected to call for over-the-counter derivatives regulation, like the Obama plan. But Dodd will offer his own initiative, drawing on the administration's proposals and a bill from Democratic Senator Jack Reed.
RANGE OF OTHER PROPOSALS
Credit rating regulation, new investor protections, curbs on executive pay, securitization reforms, hedge fund registration and a new insurance industry office are also expected to be covered in some way in the Dodd bill.
Dodd said on Wednesday that he hoped to move a bill out of his committee by early December.
A senior Treasury Department official on Thursday urged Congress to pass one comprehensive financial reform package, saying he expects lawmakers to move forward shortly.
"We strongly believe there needs to be a comprehensive set of reforms," said Treasury Assistant Secretary for Financial Institutions Michael Barr.
"I don't think piecemeal action makes sense in this area," he said, answering questions after a speech to the American Law Institute and the American Bar Association.
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