Barack Obama

“ For over two centuries, our market has created a prosperity that is the envy of the world, and rewarded the innovators and risk-takers who have made America a beacon of science, technology and discovery. ”

“ Obviously if small businesses and large businesses can't get credit, then we're going to have problems.
And I think that my top priority, in addition to a economic recovery plan that helps to spur demand and create new jobs; my second priority, which is reflected by this team here today, is to make sure that not only are we strengthening our financial system and the flow of credit, in the short term, but we're also creating the kind of regulatory structure that prevents the broad systemic risks that we've been seeing, over the long term. ”

“ Instead of allowing interests to put their thumbs on the economic scales and CEOs run off with excessive golden parachutes, we're going to ensure openness, accountability and transparency in our markets so that people can trust the value of the financial product they're buying. ”

“ President-elect, the current financial market crisis requires an aggressive, systemic response.
Modernizing America's financial regulatory system demands that federal agencies work collaboratively, aggressively and creatively to meet head on the realities of today's complex marketplace. I look forward to working with Tim Geithner, Larry Summers, Paul Volcker, Gary Gensler and Dan Tarullo and the rest of the economic team to help you put in place a regulatory structure that protects all investors.
Investor trust is the lifeblood of our financial markets. ”

“ And what I hope my administration can accomplish is through very specific actions show the American people that we are serious about the business of helping American families, putting people back to work, making sure the economy grows, making sure that some of the shenanigans that have been taking place on Wall Street no longer occur, making sure that we're changing our politics so that people have a sense of restored trust in government; that we are competent ”

“ I can tell you that, just in principle, for us to, for example, focus narrowly on bank regulation when huge amounts of money in the financial system are sloshing around outside of banks, that's a problem. Those are systemic risks that have to be dealt with. I know that one of the things that Mary and I have spoken about is the fact that the SEC has a role in protecting investors, but you also have the issue of how do you make sure that these financial institutions are operating in a way that encourages solvency. ”

“ And part of what we've tried to talk about during the course of this campaign is a restoration of a sense of responsibility; that all of us have responsibilities to operate honorably, to ensure honesty and transparency in our institutions; that we are advocating not just for ourselves but for what's good for the country; that we are operating not just out of greed but operating out of a sense of the common good. ”

“ But I think that the bottom line, from my perspective, is that we cannot afford a collapse of our financial system. Main Street can't afford it. It's not just a few bankers on Wall Street that have a stake in our financial system. ”

“ And that dialogue, I think, is part of what my campaign's been all about; that we're not going to agree on every single issue, but what we have to do is to be able to create an atmosphere when we -- where we can disagree without being disagreeable and then focus on those things that we hold in common as Americans. ”

“ The CFTC plays an essential role in our financial system, promoting and ensuring integrity of markets and protecting the public from fraud and manipulation. The trading of futures and options helps reduce risk and promote growth for farmers and in the commodities sector. ”

“ In these times of significant challenges, the work we do together to restore our economy and reform the financial system is of such importance. And I'm honored not only to serve as CFTC chair but to have been asked to play a senior role, along with Mary and others, to help reform our regulatory system. ”

“ My economic team has been in conversations with them. Obviously, they've got a lot on their plate. It's not just the financial system that they're focused on at this moment. We've still got the auto industry and how that's going to be dealt with. ”

“ And you know, we can have the best regulators in the world. But everybody from CEOs to shareholders to investors are going to have to be asking themselves, not only is this profitable, not only whether this will boost my bonus but is it right ”

“ And you know, one of the things that I hope is that the American people will find when we make a mistake, we're willing to 'fess up to it and change. That's the kind of approach I think that people are looking for. ”