Obama, Yellen discuss Wall St. Reforms, economic outlook: White House

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama and Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen discussed the outlook for the U.S. and global economies and the implementation of Wall Street reforms during an Oval Office meeting on Monday, the White House said. It was the first one-on-one meeting between Obama and Yellen since she took the helm of the central bank, which sets the nation's monetary policy but operates independently from the White House. The Federal Reserve and other financial regulators are still finalizing rules from the 2010 Dodd-Frank Wall Street reform act, which aimed to strengthen the financial system after the 2007-2009 credit crisis shattered confidence throughout global markets. Obama and Yellen talked about the near- and long-term outlook for the economy in the United States and around the world, the White House said. They also discussed the Consumer Protection Act. Obama leaves this weekend for Asia on a trip that will include a meeting of the G20 group of economies. "So the president having this conversation with the chair of the Fed makes sense in advance of that meeting," White House spokesman Earnest told reporters before the meeting. Earnest said he did not know whether Obama would discuss two vacancies on the Fed's seven-member Board of Governors with Yellen. Earnest also said he had no update on when Obama would move to fill the positions. (Reporting by Steve Holland and Roberta Rampton; Editing by Doina Chiacu and Dan Grebler)