WASHINGTON - The top Republican on the U.S. Senate Banking Committee on Monday urged clear government procedures for dealing with large, failing financial firms.

In his latest comment about one of the most difficult issues of financial regulation reform, Senator Richard Shelby said, such a regime will operate similarly to bankruptcy proceedings ... Whereas ordinary bankruptcy proceedings would likely be too slow to respond to short-term counterparty exposures, a resolution regime must be nimbler.

In text of a speech he made at Oxford University in England, Shelby said the resolution regime would need ready access to resources, but taxpayers must be protected.

(Reporting by Kevin Drawbaugh; Editing by Padraic Cassidy)