Dodd: Senate to consider financial overhaul mid-April

Senate Banking Committee Chairman Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) said Friday he aimed for the full Senate to debate financial overhaul legislation in the second week of April.

Democrats have made financial legislation their new top legislative priority, following the passage of healthcare legislation this week, and they are looking to move aggressively to pass the overhaul. President Barack Obama and congressional Democrats vowed to enact financial regulations this year.

"It is my hope that shortly after our return on the second week of April that we will come to the floor of the United States Senate to debate, hopefully a full throated debate, about how we reform the financial services sector of our nation," Dodd said on the Senate floor.

The bill aims to end taxpayer-funded bailouts, bolster consumer protections and impose new regulations on the multitrillion-dollar financial derivatives market, among other changes.