Bank shares tumble as Obama takes on Wall Street

by Gill Montia

Story link: Bank shares tumble as Obama takes on Wall Street

President Barack Obama has unveiled a series of measures aimed at curbing the riskier activities of US banks, such as the proprietary trading that makes billions of dollars for investment banks.

Mr Obama wants banks to focus instead on serving their customers, saying his resolve “is only strengthened when I see record profits at some of the very firms claiming that they cannot lend more to small business, cannot keep credit card rates low and cannot refund taxpayers for the bailout”.

The President also claimed that the US financial system has continued to operate under the same rules than led to its near collapse.

Summing up his mood, Mr Obama said: “If these folks want a fight, it’s a fight I’m ready to have.”

He added: “Never again will the American taxpayer be held hostage by a bank that is too big to fail.”

The comments prompted falls in stock markets in the US and Asia with shares in Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup and Goldman Sachs falling sharply.