Obama to seek Citi, JPMorgan, Goldman support for bank plan

WASHINGTON: President Barack Obama will seek support from executives of the nation���s largest banks on Friday for his plan to stabilize the financial system and try to get beyond the furor over bailouts and bonuses.

The White House meeting at noon Washington time is scheduled to include chief executive officers Vikram Pandit of Citigroup Inc, Jamie Dimon of JPMorgan Chase & Co and Lloyd Blankfein of Goldman Sachs Group Inc, all headquartered in New York. They are among as many as 15 banking executives expected to attend. Lawrence Summers, Obama���s top economic adviser, said the meeting was a measure of the ties between the government and banking industry at a time of economic crisis.

���This is about our duty to do everything we can to support a robust and sustained economic expansion and the reality that the country���s major financial institutions have a major role to play,��� Summers said.

White House advisers said the meeting will focus on stabilizing financial markets, boosting lending to businesses and consumers, reducing foreclosures and imposing regulatory overhaul rather than specific issues at individual institutions.

With the US economic recovery tethered to the health of the financial industry, Obama has proposed a public-private partnership to soak up the banks��� toxic assets and help unlock credit, as well as new regulations on banks, hedge funds, private-equity firms and derivatives markets. ���It���s terribly important that an environment of consensus replace the polarization of recent weeks,��� said former US Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Arthur Levitt, now a senior adviser to The Carlyle Group based in Washington. ���It���s essential to the business community that they be very much part of this process.���

The gathering is the latest in a continuing engagement with the business community, advisers said. Obama has held meetings with Dimon and Kenneth Chenault, the CEO of New York-based American Express Co, as well as Redmond, Washington-based Microsoft Corp Chairman Bill Gates.

Industry representatives said they will underscore the connection between the success of the financial-services industry and the broader economic recovery. After weeks in which the White House was often sharply critical of excesses at financial companies, the president wants to adopt a more collaborative approach.