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Heavily regulated sectors like banking and insurance will also likely face heavier oversight. Even some financial-industry groups support a federal watchdog for the insurance industry, which is now regulated only at the state level.

"Clearly, next year we will have more regulation," said Scott Talbott, a lobbyist for the Financial Services Roundtable, a group of the 100 biggest companies in the industry.

Having passed the US$700-billion (Bt24 trillion) bail-out bill, Congress is now shifting its attention to its next steps. "Passing this legislation is only the beginning of our work," said US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, just before the House approved the package.

Hearings that began yesterday will examine the failures of current regulations.

The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee will hold two hearings on the causes and effects of Lehman Brothers' bankruptcy and on the $85-billion bail-out of giant insurer the American International Group. The committee will hold three more hearings this month, on hedge funds, credit-rating agencies and the role of regulators in the run-up to the crisis.

The House Agriculture Committee, which has some oversight of commodities and futures trading, plans to hold a hearing this month on a class of derivatives known as credit-default swaps.