By Pete Schroeder and Chris Prentice
WASHINGTON/NEW YORK (Reuters) – The banking and financial industries are quickly drawing up wish lists for lighter regulation under the incoming administration of President Donald Trump, as Wall Street sees an opportunity to influence policy.
Numerous financial trade groups are working on detailed lists to be provided to Trump’s transition team, according to four industry sources who asked not to be identified.
That follows weeks of outreach by Trump’s team to industry groups, lawyers and lobbyists as they prepare for a possible return to the White House in 2025, according to three sources familiar with the effort. Some trade groups want to deliver the wish lists urgently, two sources said.
The speed at which the transition team and industry are moving to identify potential regulatory relief underlines how aggressively the new administration could move.
After Trump’s resounding victory on Tuesday, that effort has accelerated, with Trump allies asking industry players to detail what government problems they have and how to solve them.
Trump’s transition team did not respond to a request for comment.
REQUESTS FROM THE BANKING INDUSTRY
The banking industry is keen to see the next administration step back from numerous controversial regulatory projects, most notably the proposed Basel III endgame rules, which would require big banks to hold much more capital to reduce risk. Banking groups have pressured regulators for months to drastically curtail these plans and expect the next administration to start over or revamp the current product, three industry sources said.
Banks are also likely to seek relief from the fair lending rules they are battling in court, easier-to-navigate annual stress tests from big banks and a lighter review of bank mergers, three of the sources said.
Banks and the broader financial industry will be closely watching efforts to write tax legislation in Congress, as many provisions of a 2017 tax law that Trump passed in his first term are set to expire. One of the industry’s top priorities will be maintaining lower corporate tax rates.
The private fund industry is focused on easing an aggressive agenda from the Securities and Exchange Commission and preserving the tax treatment of carried interest so that it is still taxed as capital gains and not ordinary income, according to a person familiar with is on the case. .
“The reforms implemented over the past three and a half years will increase efficiency, competition and investor protection in U.S. capital markets,” a spokesperson said. “The agency’s enforcement actions have held violators accountable and returned billions to harmed investors.”
