An article in the LA Times describes financial industry lobbyists’ incessant pressure on lawmakers implementing the financial reform bill in the US.

Having failed to block financial reform, the industry is now focused on the next best thing: ensuring that the law is loosely interpreted and weakly enforced.

Lobbyists for banks, hedge funds and other firms have logged hundreds of meetings with federal regulators since the reform bill was signed into law July 21. The lobbyists are often pushing for exemptions to the bill’s key provisions, including measures that would limit risky Wall Street trading and shield consumers from excessive bank fees, records and interviews show.

Even though the American lobbying system is more aggressive and much less transparent, it is not far-fetched to assume that the situation regarding financial regulation is similar in the EU. NFU has recently reported about the lack of lobbying and influence from trade unions, NGOs and civil society in financial market issues. This goes to show that our contributions are more important than ever.

Read the whole article here.