Obama to Give Speech on Financial Crisis
Last updated at 9:22 p.m. Eastern
President Barack Obama is delivering a speech on Wall Street Monday, exactly one year after the Lehman Brothers investment bank collapsed and precipitated the financial crisis felt around the world.
The White House said Thursday that Obama will discuss what the administration has done to ease the crisis, its commitment to reduce government involvement in the financial sector and actions the United States and other countries must take to keep it from happening again.
The speech is scheduled for Federal Hall in New York.
It was unclear whether Obama would announce new policies in the speech.
The financial crisis struck in the waning days of the Bush administration, which enacted a $700 billion financial industry bailout to stem the tide. Obama began to play cleanup upon taking office. His administration has proposed an overhaul of the financial system that would include giving the Federal Reserve, the U.S. central bank, authority to regulate large financial companies. It also would create a new consumer protection agency to make and enforce rules for financial products.
On Thursday, citing emerging financial sector stability, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said a number of government rescue efforts in place since the crisis began no longer are needed, and banks will repay $50 billion in rescue funds during the next 18 months.
Geithner said conditions have improved in the banking industry, and his department is stepping down emergency support programs that were put in place after Lehman Brothers collapsed in the largest bankruptcy in U.S. history.