US bank chiefs play down proposals

NEW YORK: The US banking industry played down the Obama administration's proposals for the most wrenching regulatory changes since the Great Depression as just that - proposals.

Bankers, and their lobbyists, were careful not to attack the plan, which was broadly outlined in a Washington Post op-ed piece by Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and White House National Economic Council Director Lawrence Summers, head on. Instead they talked about waiting to see the details due today.

"Have we had enough say yet? No, but the process has really just gotten started," said Wayne Abernathy, executive director for financial institutions policy at the American Bankers Association.