Frank Suggests He ‘Might’ Kill Financial Overhaul if It’s Too Watered Down

House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank (D., Mass.) suggested on Friday he might kill the financial regulatory overhaul moving through Congress if efforts to create new consumer financial protection powers aren’t tough enough on Bloomberg Television’s “Political Capital With Al Hunt

Mr. Hunt asked Mr. Frank if he might “kill the whole thing and start over again” if the “consumer agency doesn’t end up the way you want.”

“Oh, I might,” Mr. Frank responded. “It depends.”

Mr. Frank passed a bill through the House of Representatives in December that would create a new Consumer Financial Protection Agency to write and enforce new financial product rules. Senate lawmakers are looking to create a new consumer protection “watchdog,” likely within an existing agency. Mr. Frank has said he wouldn’t support the creation of such a watchdog within the Federal Reserve, which is what some Senators are leaning towards doing.