U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama visited New York City on Monday to point the finger at businesses looking to make a quick dollar without considering the long term consequences.
During a speech at the NASDAQ market site in Times Square on Monday morning, the White House hopeful urged for "an immediate investigation of the relationship and business practices of rating agencies and their clients," pointing to the bundles of subprime mortgages that received rosy ratings and later experienced a high rate of defaults.
"The failure of government to exercise adequate oversight over the rating agencies will cost investors and public pension funds billions of dollars -- losses we have not yet fully recognized," Obama said.
He called for greater openness and transparency on Wall Street.
"We need more disclosure and accountability in the housing market," said the Illinois senator. "To insure that potential homeowners aren't tricked into purchasing loans they can't afford, I've proposed updating the current mortgage rules to establish a federal definition of mortgage fraud and enact tough penalties against lenders who knowingly act in bad faith."
Various recent opinion polls have seen Obama trailing only Hillary Clinton in the race for Democratic presidential candidate for 2008 presidential election.
Source: Xinhua
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