MutualFundWire.com: Elizabeth Warren Versus Larry Fink

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Tuesday, September 27, 2016

Elizabeth Warren Versus Larry Fink

One of the highest profile Democrats in the U.S. Senate doesn't want Larry Fink's folks involved in appointments in the next U.S. president's administration.

Elizabeth Warren
Senator (D-Massachusetts)

Last week Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Massachusetts) picked on Fink's BlackRock [profile], a giant retail bank, and a big investment bank as three firms that she doesn't want helping out Hillary Clinton if the presidential candidate wins the White House. Francine McKenna of MarketWatch reports that Warren singled out the three Wall Street giants in a speech to the Center for American Progress, the same liberal think tank in Washington, D.C. where this spring Warren joined in for the unveiling of the DoL's final fiduciary reg.

"We don't need Citigroup, Morgan Stanley, or BlackRock getting to choose who runs the economy in this country so that they can capture our government," Warren reportedly said last week, adding that BlackRock and the two banks "just pay lip service to Hillary's gold agenda, coupled with a sigh, a knowing glance, and a twiddling of thumbs until it's time for the next swing through the revolving door."

MarketWatch notes that Warren did not mention Goldman Sachs, a traditional punching bag for politicians complaining about Wall Street.

BlackRock, the largest asset manager in the world, worked with the U.S. Treasury during the financial crisis. Meanwhile, Fink has long been rumored to be a contender for Treasury Secretary or other posts under current President Barack Obama, also a Democrat, and there are even rumors that he might be involved with Hilary Clinton's administration if she wins.

Meanwhile, last week BlackRock and other asset management titans sent letters of praise to the Financial Stability Board (FSB) related to evaluating the systemic importance or "too-big-to-fail"-ness of giant asset managers, Bloomberg points out. The asset manager like that the FSB is focusing on, in Bloomberg's words, "specific trading activities rather than the size or systemic importance of firms that manage trillions of dollars in assets."

"We largely agree with the majority of recommendations, the implementation of which will improve protections for investors and, in turn, strengthen the financial system," BlackRock vice chair Barbara Novick writes in the letter.

Printed from: MFWire.com/story.asp?s=54873

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