Financial Lobbyists Try To Garner Reform Bill Exemptions

Wall Street couldn’t prevent an overhaul of the financial industry, but it’s doing all it can to influence how regulatory agencies actually interpret the new regulations. According to a Nov. 15 story by the Los Angeles Times, the number of companies registering lobbyists to influence financial regulatory rules is growing. And at the top of the list are names like Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase.

Lobbyists for banks, hedge funds and other firms have taken hundreds of meetings with federal regulators since July when the Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act became law. For many companies, their energies are focused on garnering exemptions from some of the provisions outlined in the reform bill.

The LA Times article says that its analysis of meeting logs of the government agencies charged with regulating the new law shows lobbyists have held at least 510 meetings with regulators since July. Among the agencies: the Federal Reserve, the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and the Commodities Futures Exchange Commission.

The names listed most frequently in the meeting logs are Goldman Sachs, with 21 meetings, and JPMorgan Chase, with 23.

Not all of the groups listed in the meeting logs are related to the financial industry. There are some groups representing consumer interests. However, the Times story reports that more than 90% of the organizations listed are, in fact, associated with Wall Street and the financial industry.