(10 am. – promoted by ek hornbeck)
After Pres. Barack Obama’s pick for Treasury Secretary confessed to a lack of financial expertise, you would have thought that the president’s choice for the number two spot would have been someone to fill that gap. Silly you. President Obama’s choice for Deputy Treasury Secretary is rumored to be Ruth Porat, who lobbied for Wall St. against regulation. This is her profile from Business Week:
Ms. Ruth Porat has been Chief Financial Officer and Executive Vice President of Morgan Stanley since January 2010. Ms. Porat served as the Global Head of the Financial Institutions Group at Morgan Stanley from September 2006 to December 2009 and also served as its Vice Chairman of Investment Banking from September 2003 to December 2009 and Chairman of the Financial Sponsors Group from July 2004 to September 2006. Throughout the recent financial crisis, she has been responsible for the Financial Sponsors Group ‘s coverage of financial institutions and governments globally, and she led the team advising the U.S. Treasury with respect to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Ms. Porat began her career with Morgan Stanley in 1987 in the Mergers and Acquisition Department.
According to Forbes, Ms Porat is the most influential woman on Wall St.
The Sunlight Foundation reports that Ms Porat lobbied on behalf of Wall St., meeting with regulators about Dodd-Frank rules nine times:
* 2012-03-27: Met with the Federal Reserve to express concerns on bank capital rules
* 2012-04-30: Met with the Federal Reserve to claim surcharges for Too Big To Fail banks were not necessary. Later also said regulating derivatives would hurt liquidity.
* 2011-12-14: Met with the Federal Reserve to ask for more lenient disclosure requirements for Morgan Stanley
* 2010-10-28: Met with the Federal Reserve to push back on Volker Rule and for more flexibility on Proprietary Trading
* 2010-11-02: Met with Treasury on the CFPB (no disclosures on meeting’s purpose)
* 2011-02-01: Met with Treasury on Capital and Liquidity (no disclosures on meeting’s purpose)
* 2011-05-03: Met with Treasury on the Volker Rule (no disclosures on meeting’s purpose)
* 2011-07-07: Met with Treasury on Derivatives (no disclosures on meeting’s purpose)
* 2011-01-05: Met with FDIC on Volker Rule (no disclosures on meeting’s purpose)
h/t DSWright at FDL News Desk
Ms Porat is not what Obama’s critics meant when they complained about a lack of woman in influential positions in the cabinet. Really, Mr. President, a Wall St. lobbyist? Jamie Dimon must be so pleased.
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