Barack Obama signs Financial Stability Act into law

On Wednesday, July 21, U.S. President Barack Obama signed into law the most sweeping overhaul of American financial-market regulations since the Great Depression, marking the conclusion of an effort to craft a legislative response to the 2008 financial crisis. 

The law was pushed through mainly by Democrats and gives the government new powers to break up companies that threaten the economy, creates a new agency to guard consumers and puts more light on the financial markets that escaped the oversight of regulators.

Barack Obama described them all as commonsense reforms that will help people in their daily life including signing contracts, understanding fees, being aware of risks. The reforms are "the strongest consumer protections in history,” said Obama.

"I proposed a set of reforms to empower consumers and investors, to bring the shadowy deals that caused this crisis into the light of day, and to put a stop to taxpayer bailouts once and for all," Obama is quoted as saying. "Today, thanks to a lot of people in this room, those reforms will become the law of the land."