Corker: GOP erred on financial reform

Tennessee GOP Sen. Bob Corker told a crowd of Vanderbilt University students, professors and local bankers on Wednesday that he still hopes a bipartisan bill on financial reform can pass Congress.
Corker has positioned himself as a moderate willing to negotiate with Democrats, going so far as to say that Republicans made a "strategic error" by refusing to negotiate with Democrats on major issues.

Corker served temporarily as lead negotiator for the Republicans in the Senate Banking Committee, at least before U.S. Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., surprised him by moving a bill out of committee last month.

The Tennessee Republican wants banking regulators to have veto power over the rules created by a new consumer financial protection agency. And he thinks requiring banks to hold onto 5 percent of the loans they create — instead of selling them to other investors — won't prove effective.

RelatedSen. Corker speaks at Vanderbilt

Instead, Corker wants more regulation of what he calls the "shadow" banking community, such as certain non-bank lenders that provided subprime mortgages and then resold them, sparking the mortgage crisis.

"We are all at fault for not having appropriate regulation when times are good,'' Corker said during his appearance at Vanderbilt's Owen Graduate School.

— NAOMI SNYDER

Wall Street bill sent to full SenateFirst-Timer’s Guide To Mortgage Shopping