Goldman, JP Morgan and BoA Increase Political Donations as Key Decisions Loom
Goldman, JP Morgan and BoA Increase Political Donations as Key Decisions Loom
Lobbying by large financial firms has been relatively quiet during the period they were receiving government bailouts, as it would have looked foolish and unethical to be receiving taxpayer funds while then turning around and making donations to politicians. Now that period is over though, as large banks and financial institutions are increasing political donations as major decisions are being mulled over by politicians concerning making regulatory changes in the industry.
J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM), Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS), Bank of America Corp. (NYSE:BAC) and Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) have all increased their political donations while ramping up their lobbying as new regulations they’re battling are now coming to the time where they’ll be implemented if there are enough votes to get it done.
This of course was to be expected, as banks that should have been allowed to fail weren’t, and after a little time of quiet contrition, are now ready to resume their swagger and push back against those issues that they don’t consider in their best interests.
Both political parties are receiving increased donations, so the large financial institutions are attempting to cover all bets as they navigate the regulatory waters. Along with donations, they are also increasing lobbying funds in order to sway political opinion and decisions their way. The month of September is when all this donation activity started to increase significantly over the first eight months of the year, where very little funds were exchanging hands.
While the donations are far below levels of four years ago, it’s telling that they’re increasing as regulatory changes are being bantered around by politicians. The companies aren’t commenting on what appears to be conflicts-of-interest, and most politicians have been quiet as well. Those that have responded say the donations won’t have any effect on their regulatory decisions, which is dubious at best.
To me the bottom line is while this is all being hashed out, there shouldn’t be donations given or received, as no matter what the final decisions are, there will be uncertainty as to the integrity of the process and conclusions, as money flows into politicians’ coffers.
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