Sydney  - Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd on Wednesday chided Wall Street investment banks for their "obscene failures" and promised to provide the world with a new set of rules for corporate governance.

"As a government and as a nation, we must respond to the twin evils which are at the root of this malaise - greed and fear," Rudd said.

He offered to draw up new banking regulations that could become "a template for the rest of the world" in dealing with what he called "extreme capitalism."

The prime minister also pledged to limit the pay of bank bosses.

"What we have seen is the comprehensive failure of extreme capitalism - extreme capitalism that now turns to government to prevent systemic failure," he said. (dpa)