Billionaire Investor Soros Slams U.S., EU Officials for Slow Response to Crisis

By: • Mon, Oct 13 2008, 9:39 AM

Following landmark agreements this weekend between G7 and euro zone nations to deal with the credit crisis, billionaire investor George Soros criticized officials on both sides of the Atlantic for their initial slow response to the turmoil.

Holding a press conference in Washington D.C. on Sunday, the outspoken Soros said financial regulators have been "consistently behind the curve."

He criticized Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson for being "very slow" to react because of his "market fundamentalist beliefs," while he said European leaders finally "realized this is a serious problem they've got to address," after they reached a number of agreements in Paris on Sunday.

Despite his criticism, Soros said the bank guarantees and liquidity agreements reached during the G7 meetings in Washington on Saturday and the euro group meeting in Paris have taken policy in a more "productive" direction than it was a week ago.

Soros said he expects financial markets to rebound following last week's massive selloff, despite panic being in "full swing."