US BANKS BACK TO RISK-TAKING WAYS

       A year after the financial system nearly collapsed, the nation's biggest banks are bigger and regaining their appetite for risk.
       Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan Chase and others-which have received thens of billions of US dollars in federal aid-are once more betting big on bonds, commodities and exotic financial products, trading that nearly stopped during the financial crisis.
       That Wall Street is making money again in essentially the same ways that thrust the banking system into chaos last fall is reason for concern on several levels, say fiancial analysts and government oficials.
       There have been no significant changes to the federal rules governing their behaviour. Proposals that have geen made to better monitor the fiancial system and to police the products banks sell to consumers have been held up by lobbyists, lawmakers and gurf-protecting regulators.
       Through mergers and the failure of Lehman Brothers, the mamnoth banks whose nearcollapse prompted government rescues have grown even bigger, increasing the risk the pose to the financial system. And they still make bets that, in the aggreate, are worth far more than the capital they have on hand to cover against potential losses.
       The government's response to last year's meltdown was to spend whatever it takes to protect the financial system from collapse-a precedent that could encourage even greater risk-taking from the private sector.
       Lawrence Summers, director of the White House's National Economic Council, warned an overhaul of regulations waas needed as soon as possible to keep the fianacial system safe over the long haul.
       "You cannot rely on the scars of past crises to ensure against practices that will lead to future crises," he said.