Obama Begins Meeting With Wall Street Executives, To Push For Lending

President Barack Obama began his meeting with top Wall Street executives Monday, a session designed to remind banks of the taxpayer assistance they received during the depths of the financial crisis and talk about ways to boost lending to small businesses.

Obama, in the middle of a fight over financial regulatory reform, will also look for the bankers' support on the measure, which many have lobbied forcefully to block.

The gathering in the Roosevelt Room was less crowded than anticipated, with heavy fog in Washington keeping three of the executives from attending in person. Lloyd Blankfein of Goldman Sachs, John Mack of Morgan Stanley, and Dick Parsons of Citigroup participated via video conference.

"Sorry your flight got held up," Obama told the three during a brief photo opportunity.

One of the executives said it "certainly was not for lack of effort" that they didn't make it to Washington.

The meeting is expected to clear the air between the president and the financial sector amid increasing tension. Obama made his frustration with Wall Street clear hours before the executives arrived at the White House, telling CBS's 60 Minutes program that he didn't seek office to help "a bunch of fat cat bankers."

"They're still puzzled why is it that people are mad at the banks. Well, let's see," Obama said. "You guys are drawing down $10 [million], $20 million bonuses after America went through the worst economic year that it's gone through in--in decades, and you guys caused the problem. And we've got 10% unemployment."

Earlier Monday, Citigroup took steps to emerge from government protection, saying it would repay $20 billion in aid and exit the program through which the U.S. would cover billions of dollars in loan losses. The Treasury Department said it will start unwinding its 34% stake in Citigroup by selling up to $5 billion of its common stock and the remainder over the next six to 12 months.

The meeting was attended by Blankfein of Goldman Sachs (GS); Ken Chenault of American Express (AXP); Richard Davis of US Bancorp (USB); Jamie Dimon of J.P. Morgan Chase (JPM); Richard Fairbank of Capital One (COF); Bob Kelly of Bank of New York Mellon (BK); Ken Lewis of Bank of America (BAC); Ron Logue of State Street Bank (STT); Mack of Morgan Stanley (MS); Parsons of Citigroup (C); Jim Rohr of PNC (PNC); and John Stumpf of Wells Fargo (WFC).

The administration was represented by White House adviser Valerie Jarrett; Council of Economic Advisers Chair Christina Romer; National Economic Council Director Larry Summers; and Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner.

Summers said Sunday that Wall Street should recognize that "no major bank would be intact" without the government's backstop.

"We were there for them," Summers said on ABC's This Week. "And the banks need to do everything they can to be sure they're there for customers across this country."

In a statement Monday, Dimon said J.P. Morgan Chase is doing its part to support small businesses, boost lending, modify mortgages for strapped homeowners, support regulatory reform and uphold sound compensation practices.

"This is simply what a bank should do," Dimon said.

But the J.P. Morgan statement also said that the bank shares "concerns" that some of the regulatory proposals could restrict lending and hurt economic growth and job creation.

-By Henry J. Pulizzi, Dow Jones Newswires; 202-862-9256; henry.pulizzi@dowjones.com

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