Bank regulators against Obama shake-up

08/04/2009 • CNN

The officials' defiance, voiced before the Senate Banking Committee, came despite a stern warning from Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner Friday about the need for administration officials to line up behind White House priorities. In expletive-laced remarks at a private meeting, Geithner urged regulators to end turf battles and support President Barack Obama's plan, said a person familiar with the matter. But Senator Richard Shelby, the committee's top Republican, said he hoped the regulators would not be swayed by Geithner's "tirade ... Your honesty and your candor are very important." FDIC Chairman Sheila Bair said her agency supports a merger of OCC and OTS, but resisted more centralization of bank oversight. "There is a profound risk of regulatory capture if you collapse it all into one agency," Bair said. John Dugan, comptroller of the currency, warned lawmakers the existing plan would wrongly give the Fed the right to 'override'