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Obama warns Wall Street to fall in line
September 15, 2009, Tuesday
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UNITED States President Barack Obama sternly warned Wall Street against returning to reckless and unchecked behavior that had threatened the nation with a second Great Depression.
Even as he noted the US economy and financial system were pulling out of a downward spiral, Obama warned financial titans yesterday - the first anniversary of the Lehman Brothers collapse - they could not count on any more bailouts.
He credited his administration and the US$787 billion stimulus package rammed through Congress in the first days of his taking office for pulling the country back from the brink. "We can be confident that the storms of the past two years are beginning to break," he said.
And even as the economy begins a "return to normalcy," Obama said, "normalcy cannot lead to complacency."
Nevertheless, Obama said, "Instead of learning the lessons of Lehman and the crisis from which we are still recovering, they are choosing to ignore them."
His tough message warned the financial community to "hear my words: We will not go back to the days of reckless behavior and unchecked excess at the heart of this crisis, where too many were motivated only by the appetite for quick kills and bloated bonuses."
Obama spoke at Federal Hall in the heart of Wall Street before an audience that included members of the financial community, lawmakers, and top administration officials. He planned lunch with former President Bill Clinton after the speech, before returning to Washington.
In marking his determination to prevent a repeat of the crisis that nearly brought down the global financial system last fall, Obama said he was attacking the problem on several broad fronts, including new rules to protect consumers and a new Consumer Financial Protection Agency to enforce those rules and closure of regulator loopholes and overlap that "were at the heart of the crisis" because it left key officials without "the authority to take action."
The failure of Lehman Brothers - the biggest bankruptcy in US history - and the panicky sales of Bear Stearns to JPMorgan Chase and Merrill Lynch to Bank of America transformed Wall Street.
Even as he noted the US economy and financial system were pulling out of a downward spiral, Obama warned financial titans yesterday - the first anniversary of the Lehman Brothers collapse - they could not count on any more bailouts.
He credited his administration and the US$787 billion stimulus package rammed through Congress in the first days of his taking office for pulling the country back from the brink. "We can be confident that the storms of the past two years are beginning to break," he said.
And even as the economy begins a "return to normalcy," Obama said, "normalcy cannot lead to complacency."
Nevertheless, Obama said, "Instead of learning the lessons of Lehman and the crisis from which we are still recovering, they are choosing to ignore them."
His tough message warned the financial community to "hear my words: We will not go back to the days of reckless behavior and unchecked excess at the heart of this crisis, where too many were motivated only by the appetite for quick kills and bloated bonuses."
Obama spoke at Federal Hall in the heart of Wall Street before an audience that included members of the financial community, lawmakers, and top administration officials. He planned lunch with former President Bill Clinton after the speech, before returning to Washington.
In marking his determination to prevent a repeat of the crisis that nearly brought down the global financial system last fall, Obama said he was attacking the problem on several broad fronts, including new rules to protect consumers and a new Consumer Financial Protection Agency to enforce those rules and closure of regulator loopholes and overlap that "were at the heart of the crisis" because it left key officials without "the authority to take action."
The failure of Lehman Brothers - the biggest bankruptcy in US history - and the panicky sales of Bear Stearns to JPMorgan Chase and Merrill Lynch to Bank of America transformed Wall Street.
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