Senate Passes Wall Street Reform

Prodded by national anger at Wall Street, the Senate tonight passed the most far-reaching restraints on big banks since the Great Depression. The massive bill would touch Wall Street CEOs and first-time home buyers, high-flying traders, and small-town lenders. The 59-39 vote represents an important achievement for President Obama. The bill must now be reconciled with a House version and could become law by the Fourth of July.

The legislation aims to prevent a recurrence of the near-meltdown of big Wall Street investment banks and the resulting costly bailouts. It calls for new ways to watch for risks in the financial system and makes it easier to liquidate large failing financial firms. It also writes new rules for complex securities blamed for helping precipitate the 2008 economic crisis, and it creates a new consumer protection agency. (More financial reform stories.)