by Daniel Costello

The House passed a sweeping overhaul of financial regulations Friday afternoon that would overhaul a large share of current Wall Street regulation and realign the agencies overseeing the nation's banking system.

Advocates have said the overhaul is designed to address shortfalls that led to last year's financial meltdown. New powers would create a consumer agency to police lenders and give the government the right to break up large firms at risk of failure.

The vote was 223-202.