Wall Street drafts Trump wish lists over bank capital, SEC regulation

FE Team | Published: November 10, 2024 22:51:33

WASHINGTON/NEW YORK, Nov 10 (Reuters): The banking and finance industries are rapidly drawing up wish lists for lighter regulation under President Donald Trump's incoming administration as Wall Street sees a window of opportunity to influence policy.
Numerous financial trade groups are working on detailed lists to hand to Trump's transition team, according to four industry sources who asked not to be identified.
That follows weeks of outreach from Trump's team to industry groups, lawyers and lobbyists in preparing for a potential White House return in 2025, according to three sources familiar with the effort. Some of the trade groups want to deliver the wish lists urgently, two of the sources said.
The speed at which the transition team and industry are moving to identify potential regulatory relief underscores how aggressively the new administration could move.
Following Trump's resounding victory on Tuesday, that effort has gained momentum, with Trump allies asking industry players to detail what governmental issues they have and how they should be fixed.
The Trump transition team did not respond to a request for comment.
The banking industry is keen to see the next administration step back on numerous contentious rule-writing projects, most notably proposed Basel III Endgame rules, that would require big banks to hold far more capital to reduce risk. Bank groups have pressed regulators for months to drastically curtail those plans and expect the next administration to start fresh or revamp the current product, according to three of the industry sources.
Banks are also likely to seek relief from fair-lending rules that they are battling in court, easier-to-navigate annual big-bank stress tests and a lighter evaluation of bank mergers, said three of the sources.
Major US lenders favor remaining within the Basel framework of international banking standards, but are seeking more lax capital requirements that they say still comply with the rules, said two sources familiar with banks' lobbying efforts, who declined to be identified because the discussions are still in flux.
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which has boosted enforcement actions on banks under director Rohit Chopra, is another area of focus.
Trump appointees are expected to pause CFPB rules relating to credit-card fees, open banking and so-called junk fees, according to an industry representative, who declined to be identified as talks are private.
The CFPB did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Banks and the broader financial industry will closely monitor an effort to write tax legislation in Congress, as many provisions of a 2017 tax law ushered through by Trump in his first term are set to expire. Among top industry priorities will be preserving lower corporate tax rates.
The private fund industry is focused on easing an aggressive agenda from the Securities and Exchange Commission, as well as preserving the tax treatment of carried interest so it continues to be taxed as capital gains and not ordinary income, according to one person familiar with the matter.
"The reforms adopted over the last three-and-a-half years enhance efficiency, competition, and investor protection in the US capital markets," a spokesperson said. "The agency's enforcement actions have held wrongdoers accountable and returned billions to harmed investors."
The four industry sources said outreach from Trump's team has already been more robust and detailed than in 2016, and suggests a more organized and efficient effort to build out the new administration. In addition to seeking policy recommendations, industry representatives say they also have been asked for input on potential high-level appointees to lead bank and financial regulators.
However, industry sources noted it could still take several weeks or months after Trump is sworn in on Jan. 20 to get some new regulatory chiefs installed, as the Senate is likely to consider higher-level cabinet picks first, two of the people said.
One of the items on the list of the Alternative Investment Management Association, which represents $3 trillion in hedge and private credit funds, is more dialogue between industry participants and regulators.
Private funds have challenged the SEC over its rulemaking and scored a big win this year when a US appeals court in June overturned a major SEC rule imposing stricter oversight of them. The other cases are still pending a court decision.
"I anticipate a return to traditional rulemaking with that proactive engagement, where there's not this adversarial relationship with a majority of the market participant community," said Daniel Austin, head of US markets policy and regulation at AIMA.