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September 14, 2009



Obama Urges Financial Sector to Support Reforms
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http://enews.voanews.com/t?ctl=2694EED:A6F02AD83191E1605E876257F45E6BEE21A4E82C900CD027&
 
President blames 'reckless' risk taking, failed regulatory schemes for
collapse of financial system 
US President Barack Obama delivers major speech on finacial crisis at
Federal Hall in New York, 14 Sep 2009President Barack Obama urged the
battered U.S. financial sector to support his "common sense" reforms.
Mr.
Obama spoke in a major address in New York City, home to many of the
financial firms that faced collapse at the height of the global
financial crisis. Mr. Obama blamed the collapse on "reckless"
risk taking and failed regulatory schemes. He said many companies are
misreading recent signs of economic recovery and ignoring the lessons
of the crisis. He said critics who say changing the regulatory
system would slow the economy and hurt markets are wrong. He said
effective, sensible rules are critical to the proper functioning of
markets. The President said financial firms who were bailed out
by the taxpayers have an obligation to help homeowners, small
businesses and others now facing serious problems. Monday's
speech came one year after a major financial firm, Lehman Brothers,
collapsed into bankruptcy, causing a crisis of confidence that pushed
an already-troubled economy into recession around the world. Mr.
Obama is proposing reforms aimed at making investment firms less likely
to take enormous risks. In some cases, those risks brought huge
losses. Worries that the bankruptcy of major firms could wreck
confidence in the financial system prompted Washington to bail out some
companies. Administration officials have said Mr. Obama's policies have
helped bring the economy back from the brink of disaster. Meantime,
U.S. unemployment has hit a 26-year high above nine percent, and
experts say it may exceed 10 percent before it eases downward. 


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