Obama warns Wall Street to mend its ways

NEW YORK: US President Barack Obama on Monday warned the Wall Street companies that they should mend their ways as his administration would no longer ���tolerate��� their reckless behaviour that would put a gradually recovering US economy at risk again.

Emphasising that ���normalcy cannot lead to complacency���, Obama in his address to the Wall Street here said some in the financial industry are ���misreading��� an improvement in the US economy. ���Instead of learning the lessons of Lehman and the crisis from which we are still recovering, they are choosing to ignore them. They do so not just at their own peril, but at our nation���s,��� he said.

���So, I want them to hear my words: we will not go back to the days of reckless behaviour and unchecked excess at the heart of this crisis, where too many were motivated only by the appetite for quick kills and bloated bonuses.���

The president added that the companies on the Wall Street could not resume taking risks ���without regard for consequences��� and expect US taxpayers to bail them out again. Observing that history can���t be allowed to repeat itself, Obama said there is need for strong rules to guard against the kind of ���systemic risks��� experienced in the past.

���And we have a responsibility to write and enforce these rules to protect consumers of financial products, taxpayers, and our economy as a whole,��� he said, adding, the rules must be framed so as not to stifle innovation and enterprise.

He said the government was ready to work with the financial industry to achieve greater regulation, but warned ���the old ways... cannot stand���. ���And to the extent that some have so readily returned to them underscores the need for change and change now,��� he stressed.

Obama said he is calling on the financial industry to join the administration in a constructive effort to update the rules and regulatory structure to meet the challenges of this new century.