WASHINGTON — Congress on Thursday passed the stiffest restrictions on banks and Wall Street since the Great Depression, clamping down on lending practices and expanding consumer protections to prevent a repeat of the 2008 meltdown that knocked the economy to its knees.

WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama declared victory Friday after congressional negotiators reached a dawn agreement on a sweeping overhaul of rules overseeing Wall Street.

WASHINGTON – Stepping up the pressure on Goldman Sachs two days after its executives were grilled and publicly rebuked by lawmakers, the Justice Department has opened a criminal investigation of the Wall Street powerhouse over mortgage securities deals it arranged.

From CBSNews.com: WASHINGTON – The reemergence of a Securities and Exchange Commission porn scandal may be political payback for the agency’s fraud suit against Goldman Sachs, some officials suspect.

Click here to read to full text of the speech, and scroll all the way down this page for video. NEW YORK — President Barack Obama pushed for stronger oversight on the financial industry and rebuked Wall Street for risky practices Thursday, arguing for “updated, commonsense” regulations to head off any new financial crisis.

WASHINGTON – The government on Friday accused Wall Street’s most powerful firm of fraud, saying Goldman Sachs & Co. sold mortgage investments without telling the buyers that the securities were crafted with input from a client who was betting on them to fail.

A quick rundown of what bonuses look like at seven big TARP recipients this year.