FINANCIAL REFORM - Huffington Post Investigative Fund

AFTER REFORM: Revolving Door Spinning Between Regulators and Lobby Shops

Kevin Liptak — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 12:24:34 +0000

As the details of financial reform are finalized at regulatory agencies, former employees of those departments are working overtime to lobby for the financial industry. A review finds 150 lobbyists registering in the past year who used to work at places like the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Federal Reserve. In total, nearly 500 workers who used to work at financial agencies are now registered as lobbyists. Read more »

FINANCIAL REFORM: Regulators Wary of Wall Streeters Saving Small Banks

Kevin Liptak — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 11:49:19 +0000

As more small banks across the country face the prospect of closing, Wall Street bankers are swooping in, promising large injections of capital that could keep institutions afloat. A new report finds regulators are skeptical of the plans, accusing the bankers of simply looking to make a quick buck. Only two-dozen of the 236 shut down by the FDIC have been sold to private equity firms or hedge funds. New rules require investment groups to hold on to acquired banks for three years. Read more »

FINANCIAL REFORM: With So Much Up in the Air, Lobbyists Swarm

Stephanie Gleason — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 12:25:39 +0000

With the passage of financial reform, regulatory agencies will be tasked with conducing studies and writing hundreds of specific new rules, a task that will take years. About a dozen financial agencies are expected to handle about 250 rulemakings, analysts say.

The process will allow financial industry lobbyists the opportunity to try to water down legislative provisions.

By: Jim Puzzanghera Read more »

Details of Deals Between Banks and Colleges Spur Reaction

Ben Protess — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 21:46:58 +0000

Student Credit Card Story Inspires a Congressman, a One-Woman Protest and Some Citizen Journalism

For nearly two decades, Princeton University has been able to count on Donna Riley—and her money.

Every year since she graduated, Riley has donated to her school’s annual alumni fundraising drive.

“I happen to have a perfect giving record 17 years out from graduation,” she said.

This year, she’s thinking differently. “I told them I won't give again until they stop this practice of making money off of student credit card debt.” Read more »

Looking Back at Hidden Winners in Wall Street Reform

Kevin Liptak — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 20:16:58 +0000

As the final version of the Wall Street reform bill was finally assembled last Friday, bank stocks rose 2.7 percent—one indication investors envision a bright future for the financial industry. Indeed, some reforms once deemed vital are missing from the package, as columnists like Gretchen Morgenson at the New York Times pointed out this weekend. Some omissions are widely known, others less so. Read more »

TODAY'S BEST: Shady Auto Deals Echo Tactics Used in Mortgage Fraud

Kevin Liptak — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 13:44:03 +0000

Car dealers made news yesterday when lawmakers agreed to exempt auto financing departments from oversight by a soon-to-be-formed consumer protection bureau. A timely new report from the Center for Public Integrity illustrates the auto industry's maneuvering that led to that exemption, including millions of dollars spent lobbying members of Congress. Read more »

GOOD READ: Dysfunctional SEC Offices Preventing Reform

Kevin Liptak — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 17:00:26 +0000

As the Securities and Exchange Commission attempts to rebuild itself after years of regulatory failures, the regional offices of the enforcement agency are under scrutiny for their poor management and general disarray. A report looks at the Fort Worth office, which failed to catch an $8 billion Ponzi scheme despite one staffer's repeated warnings. Read more »

GOOD READ: Familiar Faces Lobbying Lawmakers Crafting Financial Reform

Kevin Liptak — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 16:55:07 +0000

As a select group of senators and congressmen begin crafting the final financial reform bill, former staffers for those members are working hard to prevent their old bosses from injuring the financial industry. Mother Jones found 70 lobbyists who used to work for conferees working as lobbyists for the financial industry. Read more »

GOOD READ: Finance Lobbyists Use 'Surgical Strike' in Face of Mass Unpopularity

Kevin Liptak — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 18:59:46 +0000

Large financial firms are deploying their lobbyists in a quieter manner than usual to influence the final outcome of the financial reform bill. Instead of large public campaigns waged on Washington airwaves and newspapers, the firms are targeting specific issues and quietly lobbying the conferees reconciling House and Senate bills. The firms, already maligned in the public eye, are worried large-scale campaigns would further worsen their reputations. Read more »

Goldman Sachs Publicly Backs Financial Reform — While Dispatching Army of Lobbyists

Adele Hampton — Mon, 17 May 2010 12:33:48 +0000

Amid Attempts to Rein in Wall Street, Persuaders Safeguard Bank’s Interests

For all of Goldman Sachs’ professed support for an overhaul of financial regulations, the megabank hasn’t exactly withdrawn its army of lobbyists. Far from wearing out its welcome, the firm is busier than ever safeguarding its interests while a Wall Street crackdown takes shape in Washington. Read more »

Profiting From Recession, Payday Lenders Spend Big to Fight Regulation

Keith Epstein — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 15:05:20 +0000

Industry Steps Up Lobbying as Senate Grapples With Financial Reform

The influential $42 billion-a-year payday lending industry, thriving from a surge in emergency loans to people struggling through the recession, is pouring record sums into lobbying, campaign contributions, and public relations – and getting results. Read more »

VIDEO: Barney Frank: Consumer Reforms at Risk in Senate

Lagan Sebert — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 16:42:45 +0000

Financial reform legislation faces an uncertain future in the Senate where Republicans stand opposed to creating a new consumer protection agency. Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.), who ushered a financial overhaul through the House last month, explains how the agency was tempered in his bill and may not survive the Senate. President Obama has said creating the agency is a must. » Related Story: Dodd’s Departure Could Endanger Potential Consumer Agency Read more »

Dodd’s Departure Could Endanger Potential Consumer Agency

Ben Protess — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 15:18:06 +0000

It’s the question buzzing around Washington and Wall Street this week: Will Sen. Christopher Dodd’s sudden retirement announcement further jeopardize his already thorny task of overhauling the nation’s financial regulatory system?

At risk in particular, some Capitol Hill observers say, may be a proposal to create a new consumer protection agency that President Obama has characterized as a must for financial reform. Read more »

Update: A Guide to Financial Regulatory Reform Proposals

Ben Protess — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 23:36:26 +0000

Now that the House has passed Rep. Barney Frank’s overhaul of U.S. financial regulations, we’ve decided to update our handy chart that details the bill’s approach to key problem areas in the financial system.

In the days before the House voted last Friday, leading Democrats tinkered with the bill, ultimately producing some significant changes. Read more »

Barney Frank vs. the Credit Raters

Ben Protess — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 19:02:37 +0000

Financial Services Chair Got Tough Measures Passed, Some Want Tougher

After deftly dodging federal regulation for years, the nation’s top credit rating companies now must get past the formidable Barney Frank.

Last week, as the U.S. House debated the Wall Street reform package crafted largely by Frank, the Massachusetts Democrat quietly slipped regulations into the bill that would force the most significant overhaul of the credit rating industry to date. Read more »

Financial Reform Moves Forward, With Many Loopholes

Rachel Leven — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 20:20:33 +0000

Chart: How House and Senate Plans Compare on Key Issues

As Congress inches toward restructuring U.S. financial regulation, lawmakers in the House and Senate have characterized their respective bills as sweeping and historic.

But proposals focused on consumer protection, privately-negotiated derivatives and credit rating agencies still allow broad exemptions for key players in the financial system. The Huffington Post Investigative Fund reviewed both reform packages and assembled a chart that compares the bills—and their loopholes. Read more »

VIDEO: Consumer Agency Gains, But Foes Remain

Thu, 22 Oct 2009 17:56:39 +0000

The Obama administration’s plan for a new regulatory agency to protect consumers has cleared a major legislative hurdle – but it still faces strong opposition from Republicans, business interests and some federal regulators. Read more »