A Public Citizen report, released today, finds that since the start of last year, lobbyists fighting against strong derivatives regulation—a key part of Wall Street reform—have outnumbered those supporting it by a ratio of 11-1.
Since the beginning of 2009, nearly 1,000 lobbyists have worked on at least one of nine key bills designed to rewrite the rules governing derivatives, a new Public Citizen report shows.
These lobbyists have overwhelmingly represented organizations opposing or attempting to water down proposed regulation, according to Public Citizen’s analysis of lobbying disclosure data filed with the U.S. House of Representatives.
Lobbyists representing opponents of strong derivatives reform have outnumbered pro-reform lobbyists by more than 11-to-1 (903 to 79 lobbyists). Among the clients represented by the anti-reform lobbyists were the nation’s five largest banks, several major financial trade associations and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
With that kind money and influence advantage, it’s no wonder the big banks have felt free to take big liberties with the facts about reform.