the president
well good morning everyone
audiencegood morning
the presidentwe are gathered in the heart of our nation’s capital surrounded by memorials to leaders and citizens who served our nation in its earliest days and in its days of greatest trialtoday is such a time for america
over the past two years we have faced the worst recession since the great depressioneight million people lost their jobstens of millions saw the value of their homes and retirement savings plummetcountless businesses have been unable to get the loans they need and many have been forced to shut their doorsand although the economy is growing again too many people are still feeling the pain of the downturn
now while a number of factors led to such a severe recession the primary cause was a breakdown in our financial systemit was a crisis born of a failure of responsibility from certain corners of wall street to the halls of power in washingtonfor years our financial sector was governed by antiquated and poorly enforced rules that allowed some to game the system and take risks that endangered the entire economyunscrupulous lenders locked consumers into complex loans with hidden costsfirms like aig placed massive risky bets with borrowed moneyand while the rules left abuse and excess unchecked they also left taxpayers on the hook if a big bank or financial institution ever failednow even before the crisis hit i went to wall street and i called for commonsense reforms to protect consumers and our economy as a wholeand soon after taking office i proposed a set of reforms to empower consumers and investors to bring the shadowy deals that caused this crisis into the light of day and to put a stop to taxpayer bailouts once and for all(applause) today thanks to a lot of people in this room those reforms will become the law of the land
for the last year chairmen barney frank and chris dodd have worked day and night (applause) barney and chris have worked day and night to bring about this reformand i am profoundly grateful to themi would be remiss if i didn't also express my appreciation to senator harry reid and speaker nancy pelosi for their leadershipit wouldn’t have happened without them(applause)
passing this bill was no easy taskto get there we had to overcome the furious lobbying of an array of powerful interest groups and a partisan minority determined to block changeso the members who are here today both on the stage and in the audience they have done a great service in devoting so much time and expertise to this effort to looking out for the public interests and not the special interests(applause)and i also want to thank the three republican senators who put partisanship aside (applause) judged this bill on the merits and voted for reformwe’re grateful to them(applause)and the republican house members(applause)good to see you joe(applause)
now let’s put this in perspectivethe fact is the financial industry is central to our nation’s ability to grow to prosper to compete and to innovatethere are a lot of banks that understand and fulfill this vital role and there are a whole lot of bankers who want to do right and do right by their customersthis reform will help foster
innovation not hamper itit is designed to make sure that everybody follows the same set of rules so that firms compete on price and quality not on tricks and not on traps
it demands accountability and responsibility from everyone it provides certainty to everybody from bankers to farmers to business owners to consumersand unless your business model depends on cutting corners or bilking your customers you’ve got nothing to fear from reform(applause)
now for all those americans who are wondering what wall street reform means for you here’s what you can expectif you’ve ever applied for a credit card a student loan or a mortgage you know the feeling of signing your name to pages of barely understandable fine printwhat often happens as a result is that many americans are caught by hidden fees and penalties or saddled with loans they can’t afford
that’s what happened to robin fox hit with a massive rate increase on her credit card balance even though she paid her bills on timethat’s what happened to andrew giordano who discovered hundreds of dollars in overdraft fees on his bank statement – fees he had no idea he might faceboth are here todaywell with this law unfair rate hikes like the one that hit robin will end for good(applause)and we’ll ensure that people like andrew aren’t unwittingly caught by overdraft fees when they sign up for a checking account(applause)
with this law we’ll crack down on abusive practices in the mortgage industrywe’ll make sure that contracts are simpler – putting an end
to many hidden penalties and fees in complex mortgages – so folks know what they’re signing
with this law students who take out college loans will be provided clear and concise information about their obligations
and with this law ordinary investors – like seniors and folks saving for retirement – will be able to receive more information about the costs and risks of mutual funds and other investment products so that they can make better financial decisions as to what will work for them
so all told these reforms represent the strongest consumer financial protections in history(applause)in historyand these
protections will be enforced by a new consumer watchdog with just one joblooking out for people – not big banks not lenders not investment houses – looking out for people as they interact with the financial system
and that’s not just good for consumers that’s good for the economybecause reform will put a stop to a lot of the bad loans that fueled a debtbased bubbleand it will mean all companies will have to seek customers by offering better products instead of more deceptive ones now beyond the consumer protections i’ve outlined reform will also rein in the abuse and excess that nearly brought down our financial systemit will finally bring transparency to the kinds of complex and risky transactions that helped trigger the financial crisisshareholders will also have a greater say on the pay of ceos and other executives so they can reward success instead of failure
and finally because of this law the american people will never again be asked to foot the bill for wall street’s mistakes (applause)there will be no more taxfunded bailouts period (applause)if a large financial institution should ever fail this reform gives us the ability to wind it down without endangering the broader economyand there will be new rules to make clear that no firm is somehow protected because it is too big to fail so we don’t have another aig
that's what this reform will meannow it doesn’t mean our work is overfor these new rules to be effective regulators will have to be vigilantwe may need to make adjustments along the way as our financial system adapts to these new changes and changes around the globeno law can force anybody to be responsible it’s still incumbent on those on wall street to heed the lessons of this crisis in terms of how they conduct their businesses
the fact is every american – from main street to wall street – has a stake in our financial systemwall street banks and firms invest the capital that makes it possible for startups to sell new productsthey provide loans to businesses to expand and to hirethey back mortgages for families purchasing a new homethat’s why we’ll all stand to gain from these reformswe all win when investors around the world have confidence in our marketswe all win when shareholders have more power and more informationwe all win when consumers are protected against abuseand we all win when folks are rewarded based on how well they perform not how well they evade accountability
in the end our financial system only works – our market is only free – when there are clear rules and basic safeguards that prevent abuse that check excess that ensure that it is more profitable to play by the rules than to game the systemand that’s what these reforms are designed to achieve no more no lessbecause that’s how we will ensure that our economy works for consumers that it works for investors that it works for financial institutions – that it works for all of usthis is the central lesson not only of this crisis but of our historyultimately there’s no dividing line between main street and wall streetwe rise or fall together as one nation so these reforms will help lift our economy and lead all of us to a stronger more prosperous futureand that’s why i’m so honored to sign these reforms into law and i’m so grateful to everybody who worked so hard to make this day possiblethank you very much everybody(applause)
(the bill is signed)(applause)
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