AS G.O.P. RELENTS, REGULATION BILL MOVES TO FLOOR.

WASHINGTON -- With political pressure mounting, Senate Republicans relented on Wednesday and agreed to let Democrats open debate on legislation that would impose the most far-reaching overhaul of the nation's financial regulatory system since the aftermath of the Depression. The decision by Republicans to allow floor deliberations came after they voted three days in a row to block the bill, and it suggested that they saw political peril in being depicted as impeding tougher rules for Wall Street. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]