Barney Frank, author of Wall Street reform, to retire (Reuters)

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Representative Barney Frank, a Democrat who helped to craft the landmark overhaul of financial regulations that bears his name, will not seek re-election in 2012, his office said on Monday.

Frank, 71, one of the most outspoken liberals in Congress, will hold a 1 p.m. EST/1800 GMT news conference to discuss the decision, according to his office.

He has represented his Massachusetts district since 1981, and is known for his detailed knowledge of banking and housing regulations, as well as his acerbic wit.

"Trying to have a conversation with you would be like trying to argue with a dining room table. I have no interest in it," he told a detractor in 2009.

He was one of the first openly gay politicians to serve at a national level.

Democrats expect to retain control of Frank's seat as they try to win back control of the House of Representatives in the November 2012 elections.

Frank has said to several aides that he did not want to die in Congress. He has indicated that he would be interested in heading up the Department of Housing and Urban Development, according to media reports.

With then-Senator Christopher Dodd, Frank led a comprehensive overhaul of Wall Street regulations following the 2007-2009 financial crisis. The Dodd-Frank Act, passed in 2010 with little Republican support, was one of the most ambitious legislative efforts of Obama's first term in office.

Frank's departure will deprive Democrats of the law's chief defender at a time when Wall Street and Republican lawmakers are trying to dilute its impact.

Republican presidential candidates argue that it is placing new burdens on the economy while the unemployment rate is stuck at 9 percent, and have vowed to repeal the law even as regulators are still putting it into effect.

Frank has fended off efforts to weaken the law's consumer protections, but has shown an openness to some of the banking industry's complaints. Earlier this year, for example, he said a new crackdown on debit-card fees was too harsh.

FEW FRIENDS ON WALL STREET

Still, he will not be missed on Wall Street.

"I think they will cheer that he has taken himself out of the running. I don't think he had many fans on the Street," said Ken Polcari, managing director of ICAP Equities.

An advocate of affordable housing, Frank would have had a hand in efforts to reshape the government-owned mortgage buyers Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

House Republicans have been trying to unwind the enterprises, but the administration and other policymakers have warned against removing support too quickly given the weak state of the housing market.

Representative Maxine Waters, an even more vocal critic of Wall Street, is next in line to succeed Frank as the top Democrat on the Financial Services Committee, which oversees the economy, housing finance, and the Federal Reserve and other major financial regulators.

Waters faces an ethics investigation following allegations that she broke House rules by trying in 2008 to help a bank in which her husband served on the board of directors.

Frank survived an ethics scandal in 1989 after he admitted hiring a prostitute as a personal aide. Frank apologized and said he had never used official funds.

Democrats say they expect to hold on to Frank's seat. President Barack Obama in 2008 won 61 percent of the vote in the district, which stretches from upscale Boston suburbs to Fall River, a blue-collar fishing town.

But the district has become more conservative after it was redrawn this year, and one Republican said Frank's retirement gives his party a better chance of victory in a state where all House seats are currently held by Democrats. The Massachusetts delegation will fall to nine from ten in the 2012 election.

"There is no obvious heir to the throne on the Democratic side. And on the Republican side Sean Bielat who challenged him in 2010 could make a very strong contender," Republican strategist Todd Domke said.

Frank won 54 percent of the vote in 2010 against Bielat, a political unknown.

James Segel, a former aide, said Frank felt that he had accomplished what he wanted to accomplish in Congress and enjoyed it less now that Democrats do not control the House.

Frank, who publicly acknowledged his homosexuality in 1987, told Reuters in March that he would like to write a history of the gay-rights movement.

(Additional reporting by Dave Clarke, Rachelle Younglai and Richard Cowan in Washington, Svea Herbst-Bayliss in Boston and Charles Mikolajczak in New York; Editing by Bill Trott and Vicki Allen)

Arabs nations to get $58 billion to reward reform (AP)

By GREG KELLER and SARAH DiLORENZO, AP Business Writers Greg Keller And Sarah Dilorenzo, Ap Business Writers – 1?hr?38?mins?ago

MARSEILLE, France – Wealthy countries and international lenders promised more money Saturday to encourage democratic reforms in Arab nations, promising at least $58 billion.

After Tunisia and Egypt ousted their authoritarian regimes earlier this year, eight of the world's most developed economies along with rich Arab countries and a raft of development banks had pledged in May to give $40 billion in support to their nascent democracies and hopefully keep them on the path to open government.

Those uprisings set off a cascade of revolts across the Middle East, and the Group of Eight and others are now increasing their pledges and expanding the recipients to include Morocco and Jordan.

So far, at least $58 billion has been promised to the four countries — $38 billion from development banks through 2013 and more than $20 billion from the G-8 and the wealthy Arab countries.

Saturday's meeting was notable for its inclusion of Libya, where rebel forces recently took control of most of the country and are working to create a government to replace Moammar Gadhafi's brutal regime. Libya is not yet officially part of the program but could soon receive funding, according to Canadian Finance Minister Jim Flaherty.

Libya's vast oil wealth means it is unlikely to need substantial aid over the long term, but its oil exports slowed to a trickle during recent fighting, and the country is still waiting for funds that were frozen under Gadhafi to be handed over to them. Flaherty indicated that the program could bridge the gap.

"We did not discuss quantum, but we discussed, yes, the reality that the Libyans may require some assistance in the short term," Flaherty said.

Earlier in the day, British Treasury chief George Osborne said officials would also commit to lifting sanctions on Libya, unfreezing its assets, and also "significantly get oil production going as quickly as possible."

Libya's new ambassador to France Mansour Seyf al-Nasr called the meeting "a success."

Tunisia's finance minister, Jelloul Ayed, also praised the meeting.

"A very successful meeting. The financial commitment that we obtained today is a general commitment," he said, noting that it would be determined later how much each of the Arab countries gets.

In another step for Libya's Transitional National Council, it won recognition Saturday from the International Monetary Fund, according to the organization's chief, Christine Lagarde. She said she would dispatch teams to Libya to help with technical assistance and policy advice as soon as it was safe.

The money is intended to help support "transparent, accountable government" and "sustainable and inclusive growth" in North Africa and the Middle East, according to a statement from the nine international and regional lenders who pledged the $38 billion.

The plan was hatched in May by the G-8 nations — Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia and the U.S. — as they sought to support the revolts and reforms inspired by the Arab Spring.

They hope the money will reward — and encourage — reform. The Syrian government, which is involved in a bloody crackdown on dissent, was pointedly not invited.

But there has been criticism that the funds have been slow in coming. French Finance Minister Francois Baroin said Saturday that everyone was working to hand over the money as quickly as possible.

Of the lenders, the World Bank is providing the largest share of financing, with $10.7 billion. The African Development Bank has pledged $7.6 billion, the Islamic Development Bank $4.5 billion, with the rest coming from regional development bodies such as the Arab Fund for Economic & Social Development, the Arab Monetary Fund, and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.

It wasn't immediately clear how much the G-8 countries were now offering, though Baroin said the commitments had "increased strongly." But he only specified France's new pledge, which has more than doubled to $2.7 billion.

The IMF also has another $35 billion available for lending to the region, with the focus to be on oil-importing countries suffering from rising food and fuel prices.

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