NEW YORK, NY July 06, 2009 —Regional banks are mobilizing to oppose it a bill President Obama introduced that would create a new federal agency to oversee almost all consumer lending, as WNYC's Ilya Marritz reports.

REPORTER: No bank - big or small - likes the idea of a federal regulator saying what kind of lending it can do.

Frank Sorrentino is CEO of North Jersey Community Bank. He fears that the proposed Consumer Financial Protection Agency would outlaw loans that are more complex than a classic 30 year fixed rate.

SORRENTINO: there are mortgage products out there that serve different purposes for different people. Not all interest only products are bad. Not all ARM mortgages are bad.

REPORTER: ARM - that's adjustable rate mortgage. Sorrentino says his bank acts responsibly by keeping those loans on its books. Recently he took his message to New Jersey Senator Bob Menendez, who supports greater oversight of financial products. Sorrentino and other local bank chiefs say they will lobby hard against that. For WNYC, I'm Ilya Marritz.