It seemed like a good idea at the time: Red-state Democrats facing grim reelection prospects would join forces with Republicans to slash bank regulations — demonstrating a willingness to work with President Donald Trump while bucking many in their party. That unlikely coalition voted in 2018 to roll back portions of a far-reaching 2010 law intended to prevent a future financial crisis. But those changes are now are being blamed for contributing to the recent collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank that prompted a federal rescue and stoked anxiety about a broader banking contagion. The rollback was was leveraged with a lobbying campaign that cost tens of millions of dollars and drew an army of hundreds of lobbyists into the effort. It also was seeded with ample campaign contributions. The episode offers a fresh reminder of the power that bankers wield in Washington, where the industry spends prodigiously to fight regulation and often hires former members of Congress and their staff to make the case that they are not a source of risk to the economy “The bottom line is that these banks would have faced a tougher supervisory framework under the original ... law, but Congress and the Trump regulators took an ax to it,” said Carter Dougherty, a spokesman for Americans for Financial Reform, a left-leaning financial sector watchdog group. “We can draw a direct line between the deregulation of the Trump period, driven by the bank lobby, and the chaos of the last few weeks.” President Joe Biden has asked Congress for the authority to impose tougher penalties on failed banks. The Justice Department and the Securities and Exchange Commission have started investigations. And congressional Democrats are calling for new restrictions on financial institutions. But so far there is no indication that another bipartisan coalition will form in Congress to put tougher regulations back in place, underscoring the banking industry's continued clout. That influence was on full display when the banking lobby worked for two years to water down aspects of the 2010 Dodd-Frank law that had placed weighty regulations on banks designed to reduce consumer risk and force the institutions to adopt safer lending and investing practices. Republicans had long looked to blunt the impact of Dodd-Frank. But rather than push for sweeping deregulation, Sen. Mike Crapo, an Idaho Republican who led the Senate banking committee, hoped a narrowed focus could draw enough support from moderate Democrats to clear the Senate’s 60-vote filibuster threshold. Crapo broached the idea with Democratic Sens. Jon Tester of Montana, Joe Donnelly of Indiana and Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota — all on the ballot in 2018 — as well as Mark Warner of Virginia. By the fall of that year, the bipartisan group met regularly, according to a copy of Tester’s office schedule posted to his Senate website. A lobbying strategy also emerged, with companies and trade groups that specifically mention Crapo's legislation spending more than $400 million in 2017 and 2018, according to an Associated Press analysis of the public lobbying disclosures. The bill was sold to the public as a form of regulatory relief for overburdened community banks, which serviced farmers and smaller businesses. Community bankers from across the U.S. flew in to Washington to meet repeatedly with lawmakers, including Tester, who had 32 meetings with Montana bank officials. Local bank leaders pushed members of their congressional delegation when they returned home. But the measure also included provisions sought by midsize banks that drastically curtailed oversight once the Trump Fed finished writing new regulations necessitated by the bill’s passage. Specifically, the legislation lifted the threshold for banks to be considered “too big to fail” — a designation that carries a strict regimen of oversight, including mandatory financial stress testing. That component, which effectively carved large midsize banks out of more stringent regulation, has come under new scrutiny in light of the failure of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank, whose executives lobbied on behalf of the 2018 rollback. Read more: Silicon Valley Bank collapse concerns founders of color “The lobbyists were everywhere. You couldn’t throw an elbow without running into one," Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a Massachusetts Democrat who vehemently opposed the bill, told reporters last week. Campaign checks were written. Ads were cut. Mailers went out. As a reward for their work, Heitkamp ($357,953), Tester ($302,770) and Donnelly ($265,349) became the top Senate recipients of money from the banking industry during the 2018 campaign season, according to OpenSecrets, a nonpartisan group tracking money in politics. Democratic Senate leader Chuck Schumer freed members to vote for the bill, a move intended to bolster the standing of vulnerable moderate incumbents. But the move also bitterly divided the Democratic caucus, with Warren singling out the moderates as doing Wall Street's bidding. In the hours before the bill passed the Senate with 17 Democratic votes, Heitkamp took to the chamber floor to inveigh against the “diatribe,” “hyperbole” and “overstatement” from opponents of the bill. Tester, meanwhile, huddled with executives from Bank of America, Citigroup, Discover and Wells Fargo, who were there on behalf of the American Bankers Association. The American Bankers Association, which helped lead the push, later paid $125,000 for an ad campaign thanking Tester for his role in the bill’s passage, records show. Less than a month after the bill was passed out of the Senate, Tester met Greg Becker, the CEO for the now-collapsed Silicon Valley Bank, according to his schedule. Becker specifically lobbied Congress and the Federal Reserve to take a light regulatory approach with banks of his size. Lobbyists with the firm the Franklin Square Group, which had been retained by Silicon Valley Bank, donated $10,800 to Tester's campaign, record show. Heitkamp was the only member of the group invited to the bill signing ceremony, beaming alongside Trump. Later, Americans for Prosperity, the grassroots conservative group funded by the billionaire industrialist Koch brothers, ran an online ad commending Heitkamp for taking a stand against her party. In an interview, Heitkamp pushed back against suggestions that the legislation was directly responsible for the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank. She acknowledged, however, that there was an open question about whether new rules put in place by the Fed after the measure was signed into law could have played a role. “I’m willing to look at the argument that this had something to do with it,” Heitkamp said, adding: “I think you will find that (the Fed) was engaged in some level of some supervision. Why that didn’t work? That’s the question that needs to be resolved.” In a statement issued last week, Tester did not directly address his role in the legislation, but he pledged to "take on anyone in Washington to ensure that the executives at these banks and regulators are held accountable.” Cam Fine, who led the Independent Community Bankers of America trade group during the legislative push, said the overall the bill was a good piece of legislation that offered much needed relief to struggling community banks. But like any major piece of legislation that moves through Congress, final passage hinged on support from a broad coalition of interests — including those of Wall Street and midsize banks. “Was it a perfect piece of legislation? No. But there’s an old saying in Washington: You can’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good,” said Fine. Many of the moderate Democrats who supported the measure did not fare as well. Of the core group who wrote the bill, only Tester won reelection. Others from red states who supported it, including Claire McCaskill of Missouri and Bill Nelson of Florida, lost. Tester will be on the ballot again in 2024. Last week he was in Silicon Valley for a fundraiser. One of the event's sponsors was a partner at a law firm for Silicon Valley Bank.

BNP and Jamaat had appointed eight firms to lobby with the United States against providing aid and development assistance to Bangladesh, Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen told parliament on Wednesday. He said this while delivering his statement under section 300 of the rules of procedure of parliament. He said that the government has also proof that the BNP through appointing lobbyists was involved in imposing US sanctions on Rab and appeal to the United Nations Department of Peace Operations to ban Rab from UN peacekeeping missions. “…sadly, BNP appointed lobbyists have provided such statements against Bangladesh that would offend the people of the country. BNP has told them (US) that security of the USA will be hindered due to Bangladesh. How can they write this? Shame on them (BNP),” the minister said. Read:Appointed PR firm, not lobbyist, to change wrong perception: FM Momen said that as per the US law hiring lobbyist in the United States is legal. India, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and other countries and many organisations of the world appoint lobbyists to improve political and economic relations. “But here the main issue is the purpose of hiring lobbyist (by BNP),” he said. The foreign minister said that BNP-Jamaat had appointed a total of 8 lobbyist firms in the United States. In 2014, Jamaat hired a firm to stop the trial of war criminals. For this they paid one and a half lakh dollars. They hired another lobbyist firm to stop the trial process. He said that BNP had spent 1.20 lakh dollar each month as retainer fee and 27 lakh dollar each year from February 2015 to April 2017. Momen said that the BNP had hired four lobbyist firms till 2017 and one in 2019. And to prevent the trial of war criminals, Jamaat-BNP appointed three lobbyist firms, he said. The foreign minister said that none of the BNP workers in the grassroots would want that the country’s trade and commerce become closed. Some of their top level leaders have done such things without informing them. The minister in his statement admitted that the government had not hired lobbyists, rather it has hired PR firm. “The government didn’t hire any such body who engaged in lobbying the Senate and the State Department,” he said. He also said that the government has done it to stop spreading propaganda against the country, but to spread the real information to counter the false information that is being spread. He mentioned that an organization called BGR was appointed in 2014-15. The BGR was appointed to stop the anti-Bangladesh campaign. “For the sake of the country, for the people of the country, for the good of the country and for stopping the propaganda against the country abroad, the government of Bangladesh will take whatever measures are necessary,” he added. The minister raised question about the source of huge money that BNP had spent to pay those lobbyist firms and demanded to investigate how those money were sent abroad. He said that there might be differences of opinion between the government and the BNP, but the country cannot be harmed by that. Read: Govt has evidences on BNP’s hiring lobbyists abroad: Info Minister Sanctions against Rab: Momen said that lifting of sanctions against Rapid Action Battalion  will take time and the United States would lift the if accurate information is provided to them. He also said that the government is working on the US sanctions against the country’s elite crime-busting force and the work on partnership dialogue with the United States will start next month. There will be a security dialogue in April. Process is going on to hold multiple meetings with the United States, he added. "We have held several meetings with the USA. Inshallah, whenever we will be able to provide the information to them properly, I believe the sanction will be withdrawn from a very good organization like Rab. But the process will not start tomorrow (soon). It will take time. We have to be patient.” The foreign minister said the ban was imposed without any prior discussion. The ban was prompted by propaganda from various lobbyist firms. Not only have they disclosed false information to the US government, but they have also been giving feedback to the world's different large human rights organizations that the Rab is a very bad organization. He said that Rab has gained the acceptance of the people. They have stopped the country’s terrorism, drugs, human trafficking by and large. The ban comes as some people have given false information against this big organization. He said that the Rab had not done such a bad thing that for it would be considered as a terrorist organization in the world. Rather it is working against terrorists, he said. Momen said that the political opponents have sent letters to the heads of different countries and organisations. “They have called for an end to all aid to the country in those letters. They also said that America's security would be disrupted because of Bangladesh. They have also spread propaganda about giving shelter to Rohingya,” he said.

Information and Broadcasting Minister Hasan Mahmud on Friday said the government has evidences that BNP hired lobbyists abroad to work against the country. “They signed agreement with the lobbyist firm using the address of its Nayapaltan office. The foreign minister has already taken initiative to inform different government departments and offices to investigate how the money was transferred there from Bangladesh,” he said. Hasan said this while replying to a question from journalists after a view-exchange meeting with the leaders of Chittagong University Journalists Association in Chattogram Circuit House auditorium, said a press release here in Dhaka. Read:AL hires lobbyists with public money to hide misdeeds, alleges BNP About the letter written to the United Nations against Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), he said, “Of the 12 human rights organisations that wrote a letter to exclude RAB from UN peacekeeping missions, all but two or three are just name-only ones. We’ve not heard their names before.” Hasan, also a joint general secretary of ruling Awami League, said this letter was given on November 7 last year. “Why did it come to the media suddenly after more than two months? There is a political motive behind it,” he said. He said BNP has been conspiring against Bangladesh continuously. The BNP has been conspiring against the country by hiring lobbyist firms, investing their illicit money in lobbyist firms, tarnishing the image of the country, disrupting export trade, and hindering the prosperity of the country, he said. "In fact, the BNP has no confidence in the people. So, they have chosen the path of conspiracy and hiring lobbyist firms abroad is one of the main tools of that conspiracy," he said. He said now a question has come here that whether a political party, which hatches such conspiracy against the country, should get rights to do politics in the country. Read: Info on engaging lobbyists by BNP shared with EC, BB About the TIB statement over the proposed EC formation law, the minister said TIB works on corruption, but it (the proposed law) has no relation with corruption. “By making this statement on a political issue, TIB has proved that it works for political purposes. There is a similarity between TIB’s statement and BNP’s statements. It has proved that TIB often acts as a political tool. I have been surprised, seeing the statement of TIB on a political issue,” he said. Hasan said most of the political parties that participated in talks with the President suggested enactment of a law over the appointment of Chief Election Commissioner and Election Commissioners. “In this context, the government has taken initiative to enact a law. The entire issue is a political one,” he said.

Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen on Friday said engaging a lobbyist is a normal process in the United States and Bangladesh will lobby if it is required anywhere in the USA. “In our country, we call it “Todbir” (lobbying). We’ll lobby where it’s needed. We’ll see how we can work it out within the legal framework,” he told reporters after attending a function in the city.  Dr Momen said everybody has the right to engage whatever they want to do and it is a legal process while there is nothing against it. READ: Momen writes to Blinken seeking removal of sanctions Asked about engaging lobbyists by the BNP in 2018, the Foreign Minister said he does not know about that particular issue. “It’s their headache, not mine.”  Responding to a question, Dr Momen said Bangladesh and the United States are democratic countries and there are many setbacks to the democratic system. “All democracies have imperfections. There’re gaps in each democracy. It’s a continuous process. If we’ve any shortcomings or weaknesses, we’ll definitely try to fix them. We’ll try to take care of those,” he said. The Foreign Minister said it is a matter of happiness that democracy reaches the grassroots level in the country. READ: Momen writes to Blinken seeking removal of sanctions He said from time to time, they face many disasters and they solve them. “Now we’ve a problem that we can solve.” Referring to Americans as a very mature nation, Dr Momen said although there are sanctions on  RAB, the US State Department says RAB has reduced terrorism in the last few years. “It’s their independent study.” Earlier, Foreign Minister Dr Momen inaugurated the international conference on "Law & Legal Education During and Post-Pandemic" held in BILIA Auditorium in the city. Celebrating 50 Years of BILIA (Bangladesh Institute of Law and International Affairs) the conference was jointly organised by BILIA and Asian Association of Law Professors (AALP). Chairman of BILIA Barrister M Amir-Ul Islam, Ambassador Muhammad Zamir, Professor and Dean of Faculty of Law, University of Dhaka Dr Md Rahmat Ullah and Director of BILIA Professor Dr Mizanur Rahman spoke, among others, at the inaugural ceremony of the conference.