Yellen: bank regulators making progress in reforms

WASHINGTON - Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen said Wednesday that the Fed and other banking regulators have made significant progress in correcting flaws in the financial system that triggered the worst banking crisis in seven decades.

Banking regulators are remaining "watchful" for any areas where further reforms may be needed, she said in remarks at a financial conference.

Yellen cited the need to address the problem of "too big to fail" - the perception among investors that some institutions are so large that the government will step in and save them if they get into trouble.

She said the Fed and other regulators are taking steps to make sure that the collapse of even very large banking institutions can be handled in ways that don't jeopardize the stability of the entire system.

Yellen's comments came in a joint appearance with International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde at a conference sponsored by the Institute for New Economic Thinking.

Elizabeth Warren, a frequent critic of the power yielded by the banking lobbying on Capitol Hill, also addressed the conference Tuesday night. The U.S. senator from Massachusetts, a Democrat, reportedly called out the Securities and Exchange Commission and Justice Department for allowing banks to enter into agreements that let them pay fines without admitting guilt.

And, in a recent editorial published by the Huffington Post, Warren questioned President Barack Obama's nomination of Antonio Weiss to a Treasury Department position overseeing issues that include consumer protection. "Enough is enough," wrote Warren of the appointment of Weiss, head of global investment banking for financial firm Lazard.

Lagarde told the group that a recent IMF report found that risks to financial stability around the globe are rising with increasing risks at non-bank financial institutions and in emerging market countries.

"We need to build a financial system that is both more ethical and oriented more to the needs of the real economy - a financial system that serves society and not the other way around," Lagarde said.

Yellen said a well-functioning financial sector promotes job creation, innovation and economic growth but that problems arise when the incentives become distorted, prompting bank executives to pursue risky strategies to increase profits.

"Unfortunately, in the years preceding the financial crisis, all too many firms took on risks they could neither measure nor manage," she said.

"The result was the most severe financial crisis and economic downturn since the Great Depression," the Fed chief said, noting that 9 million American lost their jobs and roughly twice that many lost their homes.