Business Digest: Deal near on Senate financial reform bill

CONGRESS

Deal in works for Senate financial reform bill

The Senate banking committee is making "meaningful progress" toward drafting a financial reform bill acceptable to members of both parties, and a deal could be struck before the Senate reconvenes in January, the lead negotiators said in a joint statement Wednesday.

The committee's chairman, Christopher J. Dodd (D-Conn.), and the ranking Republican, Richard C. Shelby of Alabama, launched an unusual search for common ground last month, pairing Democrats with Republicans to negotiate compromises on key issues.

The House passed a financial reform package earlier this month without any Republican support. Dodd tried the same approach, breaking off negotiations with Shelby and circulating a draft bill proposing even more dramatic reforms. But he returned to the bargaining table after criticism from moderate Democrats, who hold the balance of power in the Senate.

"We are committed to working together on legislation to create a sound regulatory structure," Dodd and Shelby said in the statement. They emphasized that they shared "many of the same goals" including reducing the responsibilities of the Federal Reserve, increasing the scope of federal regulation of financial markets, and creating a process for dismantling large, troubled financial firms.

-- Binyamin Appelbaum

TECHNOLOGY

FTC asks Google for data on AdMob deal

The Federal Trade Commission has asked for more information from Google about its acquisition of mobile-phone advertising platform AdMob, according to Google.

The FTC is looking into potential antitrust violations as part of a regulatory review of the merger announced in November.