BANKING & FINANCE - May 28, 1994

Administration Drops Bank Regulatory Reform: The Clinton Administration has abandoned plans to pass legislation this year consolidating bank regulation, the Treasury Department said. A Treasury official who insisted on anonymity said Secretary Lloyd Bentsen decided to shelve the proposal after failing to reach agreement on a compromise with Federal Reserve Board Chairman Alan Greenspan. The Administration has proposed merging all four bank regulatory agencies into a Federal Banking Commission. The four agencies are the Comptroller of the Currency, the Office of Thrift Supervision, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and the Federal Reserve System. The Federal Reserve Board, which would be stripped of its power to regulate banks, has opposed the bill.