WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Senator Thad Cochran (R-Miss.) today predicted an increased level of uncertainty among businesses and consumers once a mammoth 2,300-page financial regulatory reform bill is signed into law and implemented.

Cochran voted against final Senate passage of the Financial Stability Act (HR.4173), a measure originally intended to address the financial practices that led to the economic recession.  With the June 30 House vote and today's 60-39 Senate vote, the measure now goes to President Obama to be signed into law.

"It is unfortunate that this reform effort has morphed into an oversized measure that expands the federal government's role in everyday commerce. The bill goes well beyond the reforms needed to end the reckless financial actions taken on Wall Street," Cochran said.

"I am concerned about the inevitable uncertainty this legislation will create throughout the economy as businesses try to determine how they might be affected by new federal agencies and regulations.  There are uncertainties about the availability of credit for consumers and small businesses as new rules are issued.  This uncertainty, I believe, will contribute to a lack of job creation and private sector investment-just what we need to grow the U.S. economy," he said.

Among other things, the measure now headed to the White House would create several new federal agencies with sweeping new regulatory authority, including the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and Financial Stability Oversight Council.  It is intended, for example, to reform the mortgage market, but it does nothing to improve the government-sponsored Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which are responsible for backing almost all mortgages in the United States.

The bill also attempts to reform the derivatives market by increasing regulation of over-the-counter derivatives and forcing them to be traded on an open market.  The revised conference report on HR.4173 contains measures that could result in increased costs for end-users such as Mississippi businesses, farmers, and local banks that use the derivatives market to manage their risks.