This is the VOA Special English Economics Report.
On Wednesday, President Obama signed into law the Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act.
BARACK OBAMA: "These reforms represent the strongest consumer financial protections in history -- in history."
Together, the changes represent the biggest rewrite of financial rules since the Great Depression. At the heart of the two thousand three hundred pages in the bill are promises to protect average Americans.
Congress agreed to create a Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. But the Federal Reserve will pay for it. The central bank will budget about five hundred million dollars a year.
Travis Plunkett is legislative director of the Consumer Federation of America, a consumer rights group. He says this new independent office will have a lot of responsibility -- and that is a good thing.
TRAVIS PLUNKETT: "We're going to have one federal consumer financial protection bureau. If it succeeds, people will know it. If it fails, people will know it. And they will try to hold it accountable."
The bureau will set rules for the marketplace and enforce existing laws. One goal is to keep home buyers from getting bigger loans than they can pay for. But two areas where the bureau will not have power is over auto lenders or banks with assets of less than ten billion dollars.
Financial interests spent millions fighting the bill. The House of Representatives passed its version in December. Last week the Senate voted final approval with the aid of three Republican senators.
House Minority Leader John Boehner called the financial reform bill "ill-conceived."
JOHN BOEHNER: "I think it's going to make credit harder for the American people to get, clearly harder for businesses to get."
But President Obama says Wall Street took irresponsible risks that threatened the financial system.
Under the new law, banks can no longer own or invest in certain trading operations. The government has new powers to seize failing financial companies. These include businesses that, during the financial crisis, were considered "too big to fail."
And President Obama says the law does something else.
BARACK OBAMA: "Finally, because of this law, the American people will never again be asked to foot the bill for Wall Street's mistakes. There will be no more tax-funded bailouts. Period."
Regulatory agencies will write hundreds of new rules for banks and other financial companies. This follows years of deregulation.
Opponents in Congress say they will try to block some measures in the new law. But even if those efforts fail, it is too soon to know just how strong the new rules will be.
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House Minority Leader John Boehner called the financial reform bill "ill-conceived."
眾議院少數黨領袖約翰·博納稱金融改革法案“構想拙劣”。
JOHN BOEHNER: "I think it's going to make credit harder for the American people to get, clearly harder for businesses to get."
約翰·博納：“我認為這將會使美國人民更難獲得信貸，顯然企業也更難獲得。”
But President Obama says Wall Street took irresponsible risks that threatened the financial system.
但美國總統奧巴馬說，華爾街對威脅到金融體係的風險不負責任。
Under the new law, banks can no longer own or invest in certain trading operations. The government has new powers to seize failing financial companies. These include businesses that, during the financial crisis, were considered "too big to fail."
根據新法律，銀行不能再持有或投資某些交易業務。政府有權接管陷入困境的金融公司。這包括在金融危機中曾被認為是“大而不能倒”的那些企業。”
And President Obama says the law does something else.
奧巴馬總統同時表示，這項法律別有意義。
BARACK OBAMA: "Finally, because of this law, the American people will never again be asked to foot the bill for Wall Street's mistakes. There will be no more tax-funded bailouts. Period."
奧巴馬說：“最終，由於這項法律，美國人民將永遠不用再為華爾街的錯誤買單，在緊急時期也不會再有稅款援助。”
Regulatory agencies will write hundreds of new rules for banks and other financial companies. This follows years of deregulation.
監管機構將為銀行和其他金融公司製定數百條新規則，而此前已放鬆除管製數年。
Opponents in Congress say they will try to block some measures in the new law. But even if those efforts fail, it is too soon to know just how strong the new rules will be.
國會中的反對者稱，他們將設法阻止新法案中的一些措施。但是，即使這些努力失敗，也將盡早知道新規則有多強大。
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