President Barack Obama urged a Wall Street audience that included Lloyd Blankfein of Goldman Sachs to stop opposing financial reform yesterday arguing it would only hurt banks “bilking people” out of money.
With a vote on a landmark bill expected within days after months of wrangling in Congress, Mr Obama admonished the finance industry for sending “battalions” of lobbyists to Capitol Hill to fight the proposals. The thrust of the reforms is to make the financial system safer and equip regulators with new crisis tools.
Mr Blankfein, chief executive of Goldman, sat in the audience less than a week after fraud charges against his bank lent political impetus to the reform push.