In December the U.S. House of Representatives passed a key financial reform bill, the Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2009, which would provide sweeping new oversight of the financial sector. The bill, which passed the House narrowly and without a single Republican vote, includes new regulations in a host of areas of interest to Compliance Week readers, such as exempting certain filers from compliance with Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. It also creates a new Consumer Financial Protection Agency to regulate financial products sold to the public, and a Financial Stability Council to identify and regulate ...