Senator Bob Corker (R-Tennessee) says he plans to offer up an amendment to the Wall Street reform bill that will make ""surgical"" changes to consumer protection laws. Sen. Johnny Isakson (R-Georgia) is joining Corker in his push.
[IMAGE] [COLUMN_BREAK]Among the items on their agenda are establishing minimum underwriting standards for mortgages, and striking the proposed 5 percent risk retention requirement for mortgages sold as securities.
The GOP has criticized many of the consumer protections incorporated into the Senate reform bill as ""overreaching"" and taking regulation too far to the point that it would hurt the market.
Their thinking is that by setting minimum underwriting standards for home loans, it alone would be enough to rein in risky lending, and would trump the need to require lenders to retain a 5 percent risk ratio on mortgages pooled and sold into the secondary market.
Corker says such changes are needed in the bill's consumer protection provisions in order to win support from Republicans.