Obama: U.S. must learn lessons of financial crisis

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama will warn on Thursday that the United States will be doomed to another financial catastrophe if Wall Street and Washington do not learn the lessons of the recent crisis.

Seeking to lend momentum to Democratic legislation that would bring sweeping changes to the financial regulatory system, Obama will tell Congress and the financial industry not to allow the chance for reform to slip away, according to excerpts from the speech he will deliver in New York.

"It is essential that we learn the lessons of this crisis, so we don't doom ourselves to repeat it," Obama says in the excerpts released by the White House. "And make no mistake, that is exactly what will happen if we allow this moment to pass -- an outcome that is unacceptable to me and to the American people," he says.

Obama will list what he sees as five essential elements to a financial regulatory package.

Those include: a system for winding down large firms whose failure could disrupt markets, the so-called "Volcker rule" banning banks from engaging in proprietary trading, transparency for derivatives, strong consumer protections and a provision giving shareholders more say on executive pay. (Editing by Mohammad Zargham)