WASHINGTON - A top U.S. senator said on Tuesday that he is moving forward with his effort to consolidate bank supervision into a single federal regulator, despite criticism from current bank regulators who do not want to lose their authorities.

It's clear that we need to end charter shopping, where institutions look around for the regulator that will go easiest on them, said Christopher Dodd, the Democratic chairman of the Senate Banking Committee.

Dodd's plan would consolidate the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the U.S. Office of Thrift Supervision into one regulator. It would also strip direct bank supervision powers from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp and the Federal Reserve, transferring those powers to the new regulator. (Reporting by Karey Wutkowski, editing by Gerald E. McCormick)