Obama: Banking sector needs cultural shift

WASHINGTON, July 21 (UPI) -- The banking industry needs to alter its culture rather than return to paying billions in bonuses after so much federal aid, U.S. President Barack Obama said.

Obama told the NBC News "Today" show he was "frustrated" when he learned last week that Goldman Sachs Group Inc., which took $10 billion in bailout money, had set aside $11.3 billion to hand out to its employees in bonuses for the work they'd done in the past six months.

"What you haven't seen, I think, is a change in culture, a certain humility where they kind of step back and they say: 'Gosh, you know, we really messed things up. And so maybe we should be more focused on the products that we're providing consumers. Let's make sure that we're operating in a more secure, safe fashion," Obama said in an interview, which aired Tuesday.

When "Today" host Meredith Vieira asked if Obama thought taxpayers should get a cut of those bonuses, the president said taxpayers actually made money on the bailout because Goldman paid back the money with interest.

Obama also said financial regulatory reform would be vital as the nation emerges from the economic crisis.

"And part of what gets me really frustrated," Obama said, "is when I hear that some of the banks are resisting the idea of a consumer finance protection agency that we've put forward to make sure that banks can't take advantage of people with predatory loans on their mortgages or credit cards that are jacked up to exorbitant rates."