Fed's Williams says Europe presents global threat

(Reuters) - The European debt crisis poses a "significant" threat to financial stability and could undermine progress made in recent years to strengthen the global financial system, a top Federal Reserve official said on Monday.

"While the global financial system is stronger than it was three years ago, it remains vulnerable," San Francisco Fed President John Williams said in remarks prepared for delivery at a conference on Asian banking sponsored by his regional Fed bank.

"The European sovereign debt crisis threatens banks in that continent, and, by extension, elsewhere," he said in his opening remarks. "Clearly, it represents a significant threat to financial stability."

(Reporting by Timothy Ahmann; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)