Chamber, manufacturers lobby to kill anti-Wall Street derivatives measure

[cal04]

http://thehill.com/blogs/on-the-money/banking-financial-institutions/95373-chamber-nam-anti-wall-street-derivatives-provision-must-go

The country's biggest manufacturing and business interests are urging senators to kill financial legislation requiring Wall Street banks to spin off their derivatives desks.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, National Association of Manufacturers and Business Roundtable, among other groups, are urging the Senate to drop the requirement.

The provision has quickly developed into one of the most contentious parts of legislation aimed at regulating the multitrillion-dollar market for financial derivatives, which some blame for exacerbating the financial crisis. Senate Agriculture Committee Chairwoman Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark.) first proposed the "spin-off" provision. Bank analysts say it could lead banks to raise tens of billions of dollars to capitalize their derivatives operations.

The business groups are part of the Coalition for Derivatives End-Users, which sent a letter to the Senate yesterday outlining its opposition to the provision.

The provision could hurt business and commercial end-users by, "reducing or eliminating available counterparties," with which to do derivatives deals, the coalition argued in the letter. Banks dominate the derivatives industry, with five banks accounting for 97 percent of the total face value of U.S. market.

[no_hypocrisy]

1. Take their money and vote to prohibit those suckers anyway.

[tridim]

2. Why would manufacturers give a flying fuck about derivatives?

[The Magistrate]

3. Everybody Plays At Vegas, Sir

The 'book' on Wall Street is so large a proportion of all profit here that companies of any size, no matter what their stated business, must involve themselves if they are to have a chance, even a sucker's chance, of adequate profitability.

[tridim]

4. I understand Mr. Magistrate

However, if the manufacturing lobby isn't lobbying for the actual manufacturing sector, we may have a problem.

Then again, what manufacturing sector?

[The Magistrate]

6. As You Say, Sir: What Manufacturing Sector?

We are all speculators, or servants of their households, now....

[Odin2005]

5. Who cares what they think?

[The Magistrate]

7. No One Should, Sir: Legislators Are Supposed To Represent the People

[glinda]

8. The Chamber doesn't even represent all of their small and other business interests. They just

take their money and do what they want with it for their top executives and special interests.. Either you play or be boycotted by them.

[The Magistrate]

9. Quite True, Ma'am