Obama on new law: 'No more taxpayer bailouts'

obama_signing_gi.top.jpgPresident Obama signs the Wall Street reform bill into law, with Vice President Joseph Biden and several key lawmakers watching. By Annalyn Censky, staff reporter


NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- After more than a year of effort by its advocates, President Obama signed the Wall Street reform bill into law Wednesday, promising that the measure will put an end to taxpayer-funded bailouts of failed banks.

"Because of this law, the American people will never again be asked to foot the bill for Wall Street's mistakes," Obama said in a ceremony at the Ronald Reagan Building in Washington. "There will be no more taxpayer-funded bailouts. Period."

Considered the most sweeping overhaul of the financial system since the New Deal, the law immediately gives regulators stronger powers to break up financial companies that have grown too big.(Want to know what happens next? Read about Wall Street reform's timeline.)

Among its many provisions, the law also attempts to shine a light on complex financial products called derivatives and creates a new consumer protection agency that will set rules to curb unfair practices in consumer loans and credit cards.

"These reforms represent the strongest consumer financial protections in history," Obama said. "And these protections will be enforced by a new consumer watchdog with just one job: looking out for people - not big banks, not lenders, not investment houses - in the financial system."

At the signing, Obama was flanked by a number of lawmakers who worked on the legislation, including Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., and Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., the two committee chairmen who sponsored the bill.

Elizabeth Warren, the Harvard law professor considered a leading candidate to run the consumer protection agency, was among the President's 400 guests on an invitation list to the ceremony. Also invited were Vikram Pandit, the chief executive of bailed-out Citigroup, and Bob Diamond, president of British lender Barclays.  To top of page

Just the hot list include
Frontline troops push for solar energy
The U.S. Marines are testing renewable energy technologies like solar to reduce costs and casualties associated with fossil fuels. Play
25 Best Places to find rich singles
Looking for Mr. or Ms. Moneybags? Hunt down the perfect mate in these wealthy cities, which are brimming with unattached professionals. More
Fun festivals: Twins to mustard to pirates!
You'll see double in Twinsburg, Ohio, and Ketchup lovers should beware in Middleton, WI. Here's some of the best and strangest town festivals. Play
Index Last Change % Change
Dow 32,627.97 -234.33 -0.71%
Nasdaq 13,215.24 99.07 0.76%
S&P 500 3,913.10 -2.36 -0.06%
Treasuries 1.73 0.00 0.12%
Data as of 6:29am ET
Company Price Change % Change
Ford Motor Co 8.29 0.05 0.61%
Advanced Micro Devic... 54.59 0.70 1.30%
Cisco Systems Inc 47.49 -2.44 -4.89%
General Electric Co 13.00 -0.16 -1.22%
Kraft Heinz Co 27.84 -2.20 -7.32%
Data as of 2:44pm ET
Sponsors

Sections

Bankrupt toy retailer tells bankruptcy court it is looking at possibly reviving the Toys 'R' Us and Babies 'R' Us brands. More

Land O'Lakes CEO Beth Ford charts her career path, from her first job to becoming the first openly gay CEO at a Fortune 500 company in an interview with CNN's Boss Files. More

Most stock quote data provided by BATS. Market indices are shown in real time, except for the DJIA, which is delayed by two minutes. All times are ET. Disclaimer. Morningstar: © 2018 Morningstar, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Factset: FactSet Research Systems Inc. 2018. All rights reserved. Chicago Mercantile Association: Certain market data is the property of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. and its licensors. All rights reserved. Dow Jones: The Dow Jones branded indices are proprietary to and are calculated, distributed and marketed by DJI Opco, a subsidiary of S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC and have been licensed for use to S&P Opco, LLC and CNN. Standard & Poor's and S&P are registered trademarks of Standard & Poor's Financial Services LLC and Dow Jones is a registered trademark of Dow Jones Trademark Holdings LLC. All content of the Dow Jones branded indices © S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC 2018 and/or its affiliates.