Financial reform law offers look at lobbyists' efforts to shape it

Source: Los Angeles Times

Having failed to block financial reform, Wall Street is now focused on the next best thing: ensuring that the law is loosely interpreted and weakly enforced.

Lobbyists for banks, hedge funds and other firms have logged hundreds of meetings with federal regulators since the reform bill was signed into law July 21. The lobbyists are often pushing for exemptions to the bill's key provisions, including measures that would limit risky Wall Street trading and shield consumers from excessive bank fees, records and interviews show.

In an Aug. 18 meeting with Federal Reserve officials, for instance, Citigroup lobbyists warned that new rules restricting trading by hedge funds "may have a significant impact on the competitiveness of U.S. firms," according to a summary released by the Fed.

Read more: http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-financial-lobbying-20101115,0,6793987.story

in those hundreds of meetings?

by the long long long history of revolving door between regulatory bodies and investment banks. Why would they even have to put voice to it? All regulators know that if they protect the industry, a well-paid job (often dealing with their own successors at the agency on behalf of their new employers) awaits them.