Senate eyes bipartisan banking reform 

WASHINGTON—A bipartisan banking bill to roll back some Dodd-Frank regulations appears likely to clear the Senate this week. Banking Committee chairman Sen. Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, introduced the bill last fall and has garnered significant support from across the aisle. The legislation passed out of the committee 16-7 in December. “There will be a split in the caucus,” Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., one of the co-sponsors of the bill, told Politico. “But I believe we’ll get between 65 and 70 votes.” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., opposes the legislation and so do many far-left Democrats such as Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts. If passed, the legislation would exempt banks with less than $100 billion in assets from federal stress tests, giving them less government red tape. It would also raise the asset threshold at which a bank is recognized as a “systemically important financial institution” (SIFI) from $50 billion to $250 billion. The Senate plans to hold a procedural vote on the bill Tuesday. With 12 Democratic co-sponsors as of Monday, the legislation has more than enough votes to avoid a filibuster if Republicans vote with their party.