“My commitment is to recover every single dime the American people are to be paid”:US President Barack Obama
USsPresident Barack Obama has said Wall Street must pay back $117bn (£72bn) to taxpayers and disparage banks for massive profits and obscene bonuses.
The tax is to recover money US taxpayers are expected to lose from bailing out the banks during the financial crisis.
The president said,”We want our money back and we’re going to get it”. The move follows populist anger at banks, seen as being responsible for causing the recent economic crisis.
He said the aim was not to punish Wall Street firms but to prevent abuses and excesses from happening again.
The president had made clear in strong language that the banks must repay the taxpayer, through what is being hailed as a financial crisis responsibility fee.
The tax would apply only to financial firms with assets of more than $50bn. There are considered to be about 50 of these institutions – although many did not accept any taxpayer assistance and many others have already repaid what the government lent to them.
Source: BBC
