WASHINGTON (Bloomberg) — US Representative Barney Frank, who Democrats elected yesterday as chairman of the House panel that oversees Wall Street, will seek to extend a federal programme to pay part of insurers' losses from any future terrorist attacks.Frank, who will lead the House Financial Services Committee when Congress convenes in January, told reporters the programme is critical to future development of commercial buildings in major cities. The programme was established after the September 11 terrorist attacks in 2001.

The subsidy was created to ensure affordable insurance after the 2001 attacks, which cost insurers about $35 billion, and made terrorism coverage scarce and prohibitively expensive.

"It's important, not so much for the insurance companies as for the big cities in this country, because you will not get any commercial buildings built of any size if you don't have terrorism-risk insurance," said Frank, a Massachusetts Democrat, at a news conference he held in Washington to outline his agenda.

Frank will oversee a panel that has jurisdiction over the US Securities and Exchange Commission and the Federal Reserve and sets policy for the banking, securities and insurance industries. He has served on the committee since 1981, most recently as its ranking minority member.

"I guarantee you that the Congress will extend terrorism-risk insurance," Frank said.

He stopped short of support for making the programme permanent, saying he wanted to see it extended for a few years. Senator Christopher Dodd, a Connecticut Democrat who will lead the Senate Banking Committee, said last month he wanted to see a permanent extension of the law, due to expire at the end of 2007.

Beyond insurance, Frank outlined an agenda that includes examining hedge funds, relaxing federal regulations for banks and narrowing the economic gap between rich and poor Americans.

Frank said he plans to hold hearings on hedge funds.

"I don't think there's enough information about them, and that's without a predisposition to regulate one way or the other," he said.