BBC News with David Legge.
President Obama has said a
sweeping
overhaul of the rules governing the United States banking industry will make Wall Street more
accountable
to the American people.
The banking reform bill was finalized by congressional negotiators after a marathon 20-hour debate. It's expected to be approved by both Houses of Congress next week and then signed into law by the president. Here is Paul Adams.
President Obama said he felt
gratified
by the results of last night's marathon session. The reforms would, he said, establish the toughest consumer financial protections in American history. A new consumer protection bureau will be responsible for governing the behaviour of credit card and mortgage companies. The government will have the power to take over and
wind down
failing companies, and in the final frantic hours of debate with the country's lawmakers
barely
able to conceal their exhaustion, agreements were reached on controlling the nation's 600-trillion-dollar derivatives market and stopping banks from trading with their own money.
The leaders of the G8 group of leading industrialized countries have begun talks in Canada with global economic recovery high on the agenda. Britain said it hopes the meeting would
bridge the gap
between the US emphasis on stimulus spending and Europe's aim of cutting budget deficits.
The British Prime Minister David Cameron has said he wants British troops to leave Afghanistan within five years. Mr Cameron's comment came in an interview with Sky News.