If at first you don't succeed, turn, turn again. The revolving door in the nation's capital took another spin last week, when Sen. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.)
hired Sam Mahler, a lobbyist from Fidelity Investments, one of the country's largest asset managers.
At Fidelity, Mahler lobbied against a key new Department of Labor rule requiring investment advisers to manage investment accounts in the best interests of their clients, rather than their own, according to the company's most recent lobbying disclosure form. The rule prohibits investment companies from steering retirees into holdings based on fees or other perks that accrue to the advisers. These kickbacks cost American savers a combined
$17 billion a year, according to an Obama administration analysis.
Kirk and seven other Republicans
sent a letter to the Office of Management and Budget in March voicing opposition to the rule, saying it would limit access to affordable investment advice. The Obama administration expects to
finalize the regulation by May 2016, giving hostile Republicans plenty of time to defang it with legislation. The country’s largest financial firms, including Fidelity, the big banks, and BlackRock, the world’s largest investor, are lobbying fiercely for Congress to block it.
Now, they’ll have one of their own on the Hill. Although President Barack Obama would likely veto a standalone bill scrapping the rule, he has been willing to cede ground on Wall Street deregulation
when Republicans package it within must-pass legislation to fund the federal government.
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