By Peter Barnes

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner advised top officials from eight financial industry and business trade groups Thursday that the Obama administration is throwing its "full weight" behind a "strong" financial regulation reform bill and is pushing to getting it done "soon," according to two financial industry sources.

He told the association representatives that "the administration would not give up, whether a bill is passed now or later – they will not stop fighting" for regulation reform, one meeting participant said.

In a statement, a Treasury spokesman said Geithner "reiterated the administration’s determination to get strong financial reform done soon and done right. He noted that passing a financial reform bill in the near term will create certainty for consumers, businesses and markets -- certainty that is essential to laying a firm foundation for sustainable economic growth."

Geithner met with Rob Nichols, president of the Financial Services Forum; Steve Bartlett, president and CEO of the Financial Services Roundtable; Bruce Josten, executive vice president of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce; Doug Lowenstein, president of the Private Equity Council; Ed Yingling, president and CEO of the American Bankers Association; Cam Fine, president of the Independent Community Bankers Association; Ken Bentsen, executive vice president of SIFMA, which represents Wall Street firms, and Roger Hollingsworth, executive vice president of the Managed Funds Association, which represents hedge funds.

Nichols said he and his fellow association executives told Geithner that they are "pro reform" and favor a reform bill on a bi-partisan basis this year. He said the lack of a defined set of "the rules of the road" was creating uncertainty for financial firms and other businesses that would be affected by reform legislation.

"It was a constructive and thoughtful exchange of views," Nichols said. But "we’ve got to get the details right" with reform legislation, he added.

Among other things, several of the associations having been lobbying against the administration’s proposal to create a new Consumer Financial Protection Agency to regulate sales and marketing of mortgages, home equity lines of credit, credit cards and other consumer financial products.

The associations generally agree on the need for stronger consumer protections in a reform bill, but say a new agency would add an unnecessary layer of regulation and bureaucracy that will raise the costs of consumer financial products and limit innovation.

According to one meeting participant, Geithner told the executives, "I know we don’t agree on everything (but) we agree on a lot of the big pieces" of reform.

"He then asked what each of the eight participants priorities were and pretty much listened the rest of the meeting," another participant said.

The financial services industry, for example, generally agrees with the need for a new "resolution authority" for the government to allow it to take over and wind down a failing firm before its failure can damage the broader financial system.

A third financial industry source briefed on the meeting said Geithner did not discuss timelines or deadlines with the association executives.