Gov. Martin O'Malley Says 'New Leadership' Needed to Rein in Wall Street

— -- Newly declared Democratic presidential contender, former Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley, took aim at Wall Street and both former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and former Republican Florida Gov. Jeb Bush during an exclusive interview with ABC News Saturday, saying "new leadership" is needed to rein in what he referred to as the "excesses" of the major investment banks.

"I'm saying that what we need [is] new leadership ... to actually rein in excesses on Wall Street," O'Malley told ABC News' George Stephanopoulos, when asked if Clinton and Bush are beholden to the "bullies" of Wall Street. "And I do believe that, yes – the old leadership of our country was very often deeply engaged with Wall Street."

"When you have somebody that's the CEO of one of the biggest repeat offending investment banks in the country telling his employees that he'd be fine with either Bush or Clinton, that should tell all of us something," he added, referring to recent comments by Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein.

O'Malley, who declared he would run for the Democratic presidential nomination during a rally in Baltimore Saturday, made reining in Wall Street a cornerstone of his campaign message.

"I've got news for the bullies of Wall Street -- the presidency is not a crown to be passed back and forth by you between two royal families," O'Malley said during his announcement speech.