HIGHLIGHTS - U.S. President Obama's post-G20 news conference

LONDON (Reuters) - Following are highlights of President Barack Obama's news conference after the G20 summit.

ON EXECUTIVE PAY

"What it says is ... you can still have outsized rewards and success for successful business people, but it will be based on not short-term performance, not three-month performance, not your ability to flip quick profits off products like derivatives that don't turn out to be particularly productive to the company, but based on sustained, effective growth."

"That's what's embodied in these documents and I think you're going to see a lot of countries trying to encourage that kind of transparency and accountability. It doesn't mean that we want the state dictating salaries, we don't, I strongly believe in a free-market system."

ON AVOIDING DEEPER DOWNTURN

"In life there are no guarantees and economics there are no guarantees... There are always risks involved."

"I have no doubt though that the steps that have been taken are critical to preventing us sliding into a depression, they are bolder and more rapid than any international response that we've seen to a financial crisis in memory and I think that they will have a concrete effect in our ability, individually, in each nation to create jobs, save jobs that exist, grow the economy, loosen up credit (and) restore trust and confidence in the financial markets."

"I think the steps in the communique were necessary. Whether they are sufficient we've got to wait and see."

ON OUTLOOK