Barney Frank, architect of landmark Wall Street reforms, dies at 86

Barney Frank, former U.S. Congressman Adam Jeffery | CNBC Former U.S. Representative Barney Frank , a quick-witted Democrat who gave his name to a landmark financial reform bill after the economic crisis of 2007-2009, has died, his sister Ann Lewis said on Wednesday. He was 86. One of the best-known gay politicians of his time, ⁠Frank served for over 30 years in the U.S. House of Representatives as a member from Massachusetts and a liberal who gladly worked with Republicans. "He's a guy you can sit down and ​deal with," Republican Representative Tom Cole from Oklahoma ​said in 2011, when Frank chaired the ​House Financial Services Committee. Along with then Senator Chris Dodd, Frank spearheaded 2010 legislation that tightened banking regulations and consumer protections to avoid a repeat of the 2007 financial crash and subsequent Great Recession. Known as the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, the law led to new rules on the previously unregulated off-exchange derivatives ⁠market, ‌and set up the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to shield consumers from predatory and abusive ⁠practices. It was regarded as one of the main successes in Congress of Barack Obama's two-term presidency. 'Things would have sucked worse without me' As the financial crisis was unfolding and institutions such as Lehman Brothers investment bank were collapsing, Frank was at the heart of congressional efforts to save the U.S. …