Senate Democratic leadership is aiming to complete work by the end of next week on a financial regulatory reform bill while Republicans questioned whether that's enough time. 

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said he expects passage of the bill "next week or sooner."

"We're ready to work with the other side and hope there will be an effort to strengthen this bill," Reid told reporters Tuesday. 

But Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said the overhaul measure "is not a two-week bill" especially considering next week is only a three-day week. 

Reid didn't outline a schedule for amendments or votes but said he told his caucus to offer amendments and move swiftly through them. He did say amendments will need only a majority to gain approval, not 60 votes. 

The Senate Finance Committee chairman tells The Hill he doesn't think there are 60 votes for a bank tax.

Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) is looking to use the financial reform bill to create a fiduciary standard for broker/dealers but is having trouble narrowing the scope of her proposal to only apply to her intended targets. 

"I'm trying to come up with language that would make it clear that large investment banks do have a legal duty to act in the interest of their clients, [but] it's more difficult to draft than you might think," she told reporters. "You start sweeping in anyone who sells any kind of financial product, which is not my goal." 

Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) recently teamed up with Sen. Daniel Akaka D-Hawaii) to introduce a proposal that toughens up a fiduciary standard as it applies to brokers. Collins thinks the Menendez amendment would be applied too broadly.

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An amendment that would close half a dozen loopholes should be approved early in the amendment process, Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) said Tuesday. 

Language is still being worked out on an amendment co-authored by Senate Banking leaders Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) and Richard Shelby (R-Ala.) that would end 'too big to fail' by closing loopholes used by the Federal Reserve and FDIC to to help failing firms. 

Closing the loopholes would lead to a process by which the federal government and firms would follow in cases of failure. It would essentially end the 'too big to fail' mentality perpetuated by the 2008 financial crisis. 

"If we can get that behind us I think it moves us on to a lot other issues, "Corker told reporters. 

Corker said there are about six loopholes, including one where creditors would have to return federal government funds above what they would have received if a firm had gone straight to bankruptcy. 

"This makes sure we're getting that money back from those creditors," said Corker, who hadn't seen final language as of lunch time today.

For example, Goldman Sachs collected millions it was owed from AIG after the firm received federal bailout money. When questioned by lawmakers last week, Goldman CEO Lloyd Blankfein said AIG owed them the money and he doesn't know from which account it was drawn. 

The Treasury secretary countered arguments that the tax would restrict credit to small businesses.

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner on Tuesday said a bank tax based on profit would not accomplish President Obama's primary goal of creating a tax that would stop banks from taking extraordinary risks. 

"We did look at a profits tax, as well as a financial transaction tax, but we thought this [Obama's proposal] was a better design because it would have the additional benefit of not just covering losses from TARP, but it would help reinforce our broader objective of limiting risk-taking," Geithner said. "A profits tax would not do that." 

The Secretary's comment came during a Senate Finance Committee hearing on creating a bank tax. 

Senate Finance members from both parties on Tuesday repeatedly questioned a notion espoused by Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner that the availability of credit, such as to start-up companies or individuals, would not be restricted by the bank tax. 

Geithner argued that most institutions serving small businesses and individuals would not subjected to the tax. He also said that institutions subjected to the levy would likely lose customers if they passed the cost of the tax on to end users. 

"The other more than 99 percent of the American financial system that is not covered by the tax would be able to come in and take that business away," Geithner said. 

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Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner on Tuesday told a Senate panel that he opposes the creation of a bailout fund because it could prompt some firms to take extraordinary risk knowing that they would be saved by the government if those investments became toxic and lost value. 

"The disadvantage of doing that is it may create an impression, however designed, that there is a pool of money there that could help fund future bailouts and that, some people have argued, could add to moral hazard rather than reduce it," he said. 

In testimony before the Senate Finance Committee, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner on Tuesday urged lawmakers to include the bank tax proposed by President Obama in the financial reform bill that is being considered on the Senate floor. 

"We believe this fee is an important complement to the financial reforms now on the Senate floor," he said in prepared remarks. "Those reforms will provide better protection for American families and businesses, require stronger limits on risk taking by large institutions, bring transparency and oversight to derivatives markets, and enable the government to break apart failing firms with no exposure to the taxpayer."