Will check Wall Street’s irresponsible behaviour: Obama

The Obama Administration has said it is coming out with a plan to check the “irresponsible” behaviour of Wall Street companies, a day after slamming them for doling out USD 18 billion in bonuses to their top CEOs at a time when they are seeking bailout packages from government.

“You will see the President (Barack Obama) and his economic team outline a plan to deal with what he found irresponsible yesterday,” White House spokesman, Robert Gibbs, said yesterday.

A furious Obama on Jan 29 blasted Wall Street’s top bosses for taking USD 18.4 billion in bonuses, describing it as “shameful” and “height of irresponsibility” while taxpayers bailed out their industry.

Gibbs said that such an expenditure cannot be tolerated by the new administration, particularly at a time when the country’s economy is in the middle of a recession.

“Nobody begrudges people that are successful and make money, somebody who’s running a very successful company that’s making its shareholders money and serving the American people responsibly. Nobody would begrudge that happening.

“But when the sixth largest year of bonuses fails in any appreciable way to match the huge losses, I think ‘outrageous’ is probably just the beginning of words one might be able to intone, particularly if they’re on TV,” Gibbs said.

Gibbs said: “I think it is very safe to assume that when a plan is outlined for financial stability, that it will include and address executive compensation and bonuses. The President did it better than I could yesterday. He found it outrageous.”