Wall Street urgently pushes its DC wish list as time runs out

WASHINGTON — For Wall Street lobbyists, December is the time for holiday cocktail parties and last-ditch efforts to win favors from lawmakers.

With less than two weeks for Congress to cut a deal to fund federal agencies, financial firms and their allies on Capitol Hill have begun the annual ritual of trying to attach goodies to mustpass legislation that could benefit banks, asset managers and private equity firms. This year, the last train leaving town is the package of spending bills aimed at averting a government shutdown.

Financial firms are seeking tweaks to the Dodd-Frank Act including the widely reviled Volcker Rule as well as steps to make it easier for new companies to go public.

With partisan fights over whether the broader spending legislation will include high-profile items like President Donald Trump’s requested $5 billion to fund a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border, the financial services industry isn’t optimistic there will be much appetite to include policy changes affecting them. But that’s not stopping lobbyists from trying to sneak in a few extra goodies. Here’s a look at some of the items on their wish list:

Derivatives Capital

Global banks have been hounding lawmakers for changes to rules forcing them to set aside large amounts of capital as collateral for cross-border derivatives trades within their own companies. JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Bank Of America Corp. have been among those calling on Congress to reshape the interaffiliate margin requirement, mandated by Dodd-Frank, in ways they say could free up billions of dollar for new loans and investments.

Volcker Rule

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Citigroup Inc. would have a lot to celebrate if lawmakers can sneak in changes to the post-crisis trading restrictions widely reviled on Wall Street. Big banks are seeking a tweak, already passed by the House, that would cut the number of agencies overseeing the rule and leaving the Federal Reserve as the sole regulator.

Financial firms say the change would simplify compliance, but it would also make it easier for them to lobby for changes.

Jobs Act

Outgoing House Financial Services Committee Chairman Jeb Hensarling and ranking member Maxine Waters introduced bipartisan legislation earlier this year that would dial back rules so that it’s easier for emerging companies to raise money or go public. The package, which passed in the House but stalled in the Senate, features mostly modest tweaks, including a measure that would expand Securities and Exchange Commission rules that let companies submit initial public offering plans confidentially and another that would exempt nonbank financial companies from annual stress tests.

Money Market

Pittsburgh-based Federated Investors Inc. is pushing for reversal of a rule that lets share prices for the riskiest money market mutual funds float instead of maintaining a stable $1 value. The post-crisis measure was meant to make the $2.8 trillion industry safer, and some of the biggest firms like Fidelity Investments, Vanguard Group. and BlackRock Inc. have already stopped fighting it and implemented changes to comply with it. Federated’s effort is backed by Senator Pat Toomey and Representative Keith Rothfus, both Pennsylvania Republicans.

BDC Changes

Private equity firms like Apollo Global Management LLC and Ares Management LP scored a big win earlier this year when they persuaded Congress to let business development companies they control ramp up risk. Now they’re pushing lawmakers to seek a change in SEC rules that make it difficult for mutual funds and other big money managers to invest in the companies.