Obama to propose regulatory reforms: admin official

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama will propose a package of changes to U.S. financial regulation aimed at reducing systemic risk and giving the government new powers to unwind failing nonbank financial institutions, an administration official told Reuters on Wednesday.

Intended to prevent a recurrence of failures like those last year at investment banks Bear Stearns and Lehman Brothers, the package will also call for stronger investor and consumer protections and closing gaps in oversight, the official said.

"We're working with leaders on Capitol Hill to move forward as quickly as possible," said the official, when asked about the timeline on advancing the president's proposals.

(Reporting by Caren Bohan and Kevin Drawbaugh, Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)