Even if the U.S. Congress passes the Obama administration's sweeping Wall Street reforms in the next few days it could take years to sort out many crucial details.
That's because the 1,300-plus-page Senate financial-overhaul bill puts off implementation of some of the most contentious rule changes until further study can be done - a process that could take a year or more.
Among the measures that Congress wants to investigate further before implementation is the so-called Volcker rule, which would ban banks from owning hedge funds and the lucrative business of trading in their own accounts. The bill would also put off tighter regulation of credit rating agencies pending further study - one of at least two dozen studies mandated by the legislation.
Republicans sent a message to Democrats Monday that they won't be bullied into a quick vote, blocking a Democratic effort to begin debate on the bill. Monday's procedural vote went as expected and isn't the end of the line for the reform bill, but it suggests that President Barack Obama may need to water down the bill a bit to win Republican support.
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"All of us want to deliver a reform that will tighten the screws on Wall Street," Kentucky Senator Mitch McConnell, the Senate Republican leader, said on the Senate floor. "But we're not going to be rushed on another massive bill."
Senate Republicans plus one Democrat - Ben Nelson of Nebraska - voted against the motion. Democrats, who control 59 votes in the 100-member Senate, need at least 60 votes to move the bill to a full vote, meaning they'll likely need to make changes to the bill to attract at least two more votes.
The White House mocked Republicans for clinging to the status quo - a regulatory regime that failed to avert the 2008 financial crisis and a wave of costly bank failures.
"Let's be clear about the consequences of not moving this proposal forward," White House spokesman Robert Gibbs told reporters. "The same rules of the road that got us into this mess, the same rules of the road that let banks and financial institutions make their own decisions, they're still the rules of the road."
Mr. Gibbs added that the "time for delay on this has passed."
But Republicans said they are preparing their own version of Wall Street reforms in the coming days.
All this guarantees that the final contours of the legislation could remain in flux for a while.
Several key provisions remain in dispute. Senate Democrats continue to try to find common ground with Republicans on several items, including a proposed bank-funded $50-billion (U.S.) reserve to pay for future bailouts, tough new restrictions on trading in financial derivatives and the powers of a newly created consumer regulator.
"Financial reform has many moving parts and not all of it will work out as intended," pointed out Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Economy.com in West Chester, Pa.
Given the scope of the problem exposed by the financial crisis, he said Congress is making "a healthy start."
So far, the Obama administration and Congressional Democrats are taking a hard line on financial derivatives - investments, such as futures, that are based on the value of another asset.
The current bill would force deposit-taking banks to spin off their derivatives operations. But Republicans and much of the financial services industry is fighting the measure.
In a statement issued Monday, the White House warned senators not to add loopholes that would weaken consumer and investor protections. And it urged the Senate to "resist pressure from those who would preserve the status quo and to stand up for long overdue reform that will protect American families and the long-term health of the Nation's economy."