Financial services lobby

The Financial services lobby, the "FIRE lobby", includes finance, insurance (excluding health insurance), and real estate.

Financial services lobbying groups

 * American Alliance of Home Modification Professionals, http://www.aahmp.org
 * The American Bankers Association (ABA), President Edward Yingling
 * The American Financial Services Association (AFSA), a leading opponent of the proposed Consumer Financial Protection Agency, Bill Himpler is the executive vice president for government affairs
 * Association for Financial Professionals
 * Association of Progressive Rental Organizations (APRO), "The "official voice" of the rent-to-own industry"
 * The Association of Settlement Companies (TASC)
 * Bankers Association for Finance and Trade (BAFT)
 * Community Financial Services Association of America
 * Consumer Mortgage Coalition
 * Financial Planning Association, http://www.fpanet.org
 * Financial Services Forum, http://www.financialservicesforum.org
 * The Financial Services Forum is an economic policy organization comprising the chief executive officers of 17 of the largest and most diversified financial institutions doing business in the United States.
 * John R. Dearie, Executive Vice President for Policy
 * Financial Services Roundtable
 * Steve Bartlett, CEO
 * Scott E. Talbott, senior vice president of government affairs
 * Housing Finance Alliance
 * Independent Community Bankers of America (ICBA)
 * http://www.icba.org
 * Camden R. Fine, ICBA President and CEO
 * International Swaps and Derivatives Assotiation, Inc. (ISDA), http://www.isda.org/
 * Mortgage Bankers Association, Steve O'Connor, senior vice president of government affairs
 * Mortgage Insurance Companies of America (MICA)
 * National Assn of Credit Management, http://www.nacm.org
 * National Association of Personal Financial Advisors, http://www.napfa.org
 * National Credit Reporting Association, http://www.ncrainc.org
 * Private Investor Coalition
 * U.S. Chamber of Commerce
 * Ryan McKee, senior director
 * David Hirschmann, head of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Center for Capital Markets Competitiveness
 * Stop The CFPA website, "A product of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce"

Lobbying
Overview: The financial services industry is ranked #1 in lobbying expenditures, spending $3,718,792,264 on lobbying between 1998 and 2009, according to OpenSecrets.org.

Lobbying expenditures
In the first three quarters of 2009 the sector's lobbying expenditures broke down as follows: Total for Finance, Insurance & Real Estate: $246,451,462 Total Number of Lobbyists Reported: 2,441 Insurance $90,164,227 Securities & Investment $47,354,408 Real Estate $36,831,069 Commercial Banks $27,347,713 Finance/Credit Companies $18,532,559 Misc Finance $13,525,932 Accountants $7,158,218 Credit Unions $4,937,336 Savings & Loans $600,000

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce announced on Sept. 8, 2009, an advertising campaign of at least $2 million aimed at defeating the creation of the Consumer Financial Protection Agency (CFPA). The Agency was proposed by the Obama administration to regulate more closely mortgages and credit cards. Certain practices would be banned and would require financial firms to offer loans with less complex language.

Political contributions
Since 1990, the financial industry has made $2.2 billion in political contributions to lawmakers, more than any other industry tracked by the Center for Responsive Politics. Since 1998, the earliest available data, Wall Street has also been the top spender on lobbying activities, at $3.6 billion.

Related SourceWatch articles

 * Financial industry lobbying
 * Lobbying

External articles

 * Chamber Of Commerce Joins Bank Lobby To Oppose Consumer Protection Agency The Wonk Room, Think Progress, July 17, 2009.
 * Our view on consumer protection: How the banking lobby tries to undermine loan reform, USA Today editorial, October 7, 2009.
 * Brody Mullins and T.W. Farnam, Wall Street Steps Up Political Donations, Lobbying, Wall Street Journal, October 22, 2009.
 * Silla Brush, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac critics form lobbying group, The Hill, October 23, 2009.