Wall St. banking on GOP to ease new rules

Wall Street has shifted its financial contributions away from Democrats in this election cycle and into the coffers of Republicans with two goals in mind: to ease tougher new regulations on the financial industry and prod some priorities beyond the Capitol Hill gridlock. “There is a lot of anger in the financial services industry directed at Democrats” because of the new rules on Wall Street, said Bert Ely, bank analyst at Ely & Co. Inc. in Alexandria, Va. “This also increasingly looks like a wave election with a huge shift back to Republicans, and [big banks] want to make sure they’re betting on a winner particularly as it gives them greater access in policy,” said Ely. Legislative observers contend the wave of funding for Republican candidates and causes reflects a desire by the financial services and real-estate sectors to put pressure on regulators to limit costs as they write hundreds of rules based on the bank reform legislation, the Dodd-Frank Act, over the next two years. A Republican-controlled House and a more evenly split Senate, as is expected after the Nov. 2 midterm elections, will help drive the kind of pressure Wall Street wants to exert.

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