Obama urges regulators to enact Wall Street rules
Three years after President Obama signed a sweeping overhaul of lending and high-finance rules, scores of regulations are yet to be written, let alone enforced. In a private meeting on Monday, the president prodded bank regulators to execute the law swiftly.
The president's push for action comes as the five-year anniversary of the nation's financial near-meltdown approaches. The law, when passed in 2010, was considered a milestone in Mr. Obama's presidency, a robust response to the crisis that led to a massive government bailout to stabilize the financial markets. However, according to one report, regulators have only finished around 60 percent of the major actions the law requires of them.
In a statement after the meeting, the White House said the president commended regulators for their work but stressed the need to finish implementing remaining portions of the law promptly.
Ahead of the meeting, White House spokesman Josh Earnest told reporters that Mr. Obama was "going to convey to them the sense of urgency that he feels about getting these regulations under Wall Street reform implemented promptly. And, most importantly, implemented in a way that protects the long term stability of our financial system, and the financial interests of middle class families all across the country."
In addition to White House staff, participants in the meeting included officials from Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (FRB), the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), among others.