Obama praises Dodd, pushes for regulatory reform

STAMFORD, Connecticut (Reuters) - President Barack Obama urged the financial industry on Friday to "join us, don't fight us" in backing regulatory reform while raising money for one of the reform's main architects, Senator Chris Dodd.

Dodd, a five-term Democratic senator fighting an uphill battle for re-election in Connecticut, is the chair of the Senate Banking Committee, which is overseeing a major overhaul of financial regulation.

"I want to stress the urgency of this reform," Obama told a fund-raising dinner for Dodd, praising him for fighting to establish a financial watchdog agency for consumers.

Noting that the country came very close to another Great Depression as a result of the financial crisis, Obama repeated his call for reform to prevent similar turmoil in the future.

"Join us, don't fight us," he said, arguing that reform would be good for the country and for the industry.

Dodd has helped to spearhead a financial regulatory overhaul and healthcare reform, both of which are among Obama's top legislative priorities.

Earlier this year, Dodd came under fire over his role in taxpayer-funded bonuses for executives at insurance giant American International Group Inc, which was bailed out by the government using taxpayers' funds.

Dodd's perceived closeness to Wall Street firms is considered one of the issues that has hurt his popularity in his home state.

(Reporting by Jeff Mason; Editing by Chris Wilson)