Efforts to tighten financial regulation picked up speed in the Senate on Thursday as a key committee targeted the unveiling of revised legislation for next week and a working session on the bill the week after.

The plan signals renewed momentum behind an initiative that last month appeared to lose headway after negotiations stopped between Democratic Senator Christopher Dodd, the committee's chairman, and its top Republican Senator Richard Shelby.

Dodd restarted talks last week with Republican Senator Bob Corker, however. The two have been trying to forge a bipartisan agreement since then, said Dodd spokeswoman Kirstin Brost.

We're working with Corker and hope to have a revised bill to present next week, Brost said.

At the same time, some Republicans on the panel are developing substitute legislation, said a Shelby aide.

Analysts have expected a regulatory reform bill to emerge from the banking committee and move to the Senate floor this spring, possibly in late March or April.

If the Senate approves a bill, President Barack Obama could have final House-Senate compromise legislation on his desk by mid-year, said analysts and lobbyists.

The House of Representatives approved a bill in December, more than a year after a severe global financial crisis triggered calls for the most sweeping reforms since the 1930s.

(Reporting by Kevin Drawbaugh and Rachelle Younglai)

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