In the wake of JP Morgan Chase's staggering trading loss, President Obama is urging Republicans to "keep moving forward" and finish implementing Wall Street reform.

"We can't afford to go back to an era of weak regulation and little oversight, where excessive risk-taking on Wall Street and a lack of basic oversight in Washington nearly destroyed our economy. We can't afford to go back to that brand of 'you're-on-your-own' economics. Not after the American people have worked so hard to come back from this crisis," the president said in his weekly address.

The financial overhaul of 2010 is a key component of the president's campaign as he seeks to contrast his record on the economy with that of his GOP rival Mitt Romney.

"We've put in place Wall Street reform with smarter, tougher, commonsense rules that serve one primary purpose: to prevent a crisis like that from ever happening again. And yet, for the past two years, too many Republicans in Congress and an army of financial industry lobbyists have actually been waging an all-out battle to delay, defund and dismantle Wall Street reform," Obama said.

Romney supports repealing the law, claiming it imposes excessive regulations.

"Unless you run a financial institution whose business model is built on cheating consumers, or making risky bets that could damage the whole economy, you have nothing to fear from Wall Street reform," Obama said. The president's comments capped a week of campaign attacks against Romney's business practices as head of the Bain Capital private equity firm.

"I believe the free market is one of the greatest forces for progress in human history, that businesses are the engine of growth, that risk-takers and innovators should be celebrated. But I also believe that at its best, the free market has never been a license to take whatever you want, however you can get it. Alongside our entrepreneurial spirit and rugged individualism, America only prospers when we meet our obligations to one another, and to future generations," Obama concluded.