In the wake of the financial crisis, regulators are strengthening their ability to spot fault lines in the financial system, rather than focusing exclusively on specific companies, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said Thursday.

"The financial crisis demonstrated clearly that supervisory and regulatory practices must consider overall financial stability as well as the safety and soundness of individual firms," Bernanke said in comments prepared for delivery to a conference.

The Fed chair did not comment on the outlook for the economy or monetary policy in his prepared remarks.

Bernanke said the Fed has set up an internal working group to oversee the largest financial firms that will build on successful approaches used during recent bank stress tests.

During those examinations Fed economists, bank supervisors and other experts worked together to review industry practices and links between firms to detect any possible risks to the broader financial system.