enlarge The Associated Press

Traders on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange watch President Obama’s address from Federal Hall on Wall Street on Monday, the anniversay of the collapse of the Lehman Brothers investment bank.

enlarge The Associated Press

President Obama walks with former President Clinton outside a restaurant in New York on Monday after a lunch where they discussed the economy, including health care reform. Obama will address the annual meeting of the Clinton Global Initiative on Sept. 22.

NEW YORK — Lecturing Wall Street on its own turf, President Obama warned financial leaders Monday not to use the recovering economy to race back into "reckless behavior" that could cause a new meltdown. He declared that a bailout-weary public will not break their fall again.

Obama insisted that there is an urgent need for tighter financial regulation, and he cautioned his audience not to try to block it.

The president spoke on the first anniversary of the collapse of the Lehman Brothers investment bank, the largest bankruptcy in U.S. history and a stark reminder of the financial crisis that spread into a deep recession despite huge federal bailouts of major companies.

"It is neither right nor responsible after you've recovered with the help of your government to shirk your obligation to the goal of wider recovery, a more stable system, and a more broadly shared prosperity," Obama said in a stern bid to boost his regulation proposals.

The president's speech reflected public sentiment that taxpayers were immeasurably harmed from last year's financial collapse – and that, barring change, it could happen again. As investment giants return to profit, millions of Americans are still coping with unemployment, home foreclosures and retirement portfolios that got washed away.

"Unfortunately, there are some in the financial industry who are misreading this moment," Obama told an audience of leaders from the investment sector.

"So I want them to hear my words," Obama said. "We will not go back to the days of reckless behavior and unchecked excess that was at the heart of this crisis. ... Those on Wall Street cannot resume taking risks without regard for consequences."

Afterward, he joined former President Clinton for lunch at a New York restaurant. The White House announced Obama would address the annual meeting of the Clinton Global Initiative Sept. 22 while in New York for the United Nations General Assembly meeting.

The public is still edgy about Wall Street and the economy. A year after the meltdown, seven of 10 Americans lack confidence that the federal government has taken safeguards to prevent another financial industry meltdown, according to a new Associated Press-GfK poll.

Yet Obama's reach goes only so far; his bid for huge regulatory change is up to Congress. The president's plan has yet to gain serious traction on Capitol Hill, as Democratic leaders have been consumed by the health care debate and staff members are still wrestling with the complexities.

The plan is being fought by a determined financial services lobby with a major assist from big business groups, and infighting among regulators who oversee the various portions of the financial architecture has further slowed the process.

But the sluggish pace is expected to pick up in coming weeks. Democrats aim to stick to their promise of completing the bill by year's end, a timeline Obama badly wants to keep, but they face long odds.

Obama has sought tougher capital requirements for banks, arguing that banks' buying of exotic financial products without keeping enough cash in reserve was a key cause of the crisis.

He wants more openness for the markets in which banks trade the most complex products.

Obama's plan also would give the Federal Reserve new oversight powers and impose conditions designed to discourage companies from getting too big. And he proposes a consumer protection agency to make rules for financial products, so people know what they're buying.

The House Financial Services Committee, led by Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., who supports much of Obama's plan, is expected in October to take up the first piece of the legislation, one that would establish an agency focused on consumer protections.

The panel has already passed legislation intended to curb excessive compensation at financial institutions.

Obama's plan could face significant...