London Fund-Raisers Put Romney in a Scandal’s Glare

[kpete]

Source: New York Times

Several of the events’ hosts are top executives at banks tied to the interest rate-fixing scandal that is now engulfing London’s financial and political world, linking Mr. Romney, however superficially, to a messy moment in the continuing debate over Wall Street excesses.

The British and American authorities are examining the role of more than 10 banks in the possible manipulation of key interest rates that affected how consumers and companies borrowed money around the world.

The former chief executive and a top lobbyist for Barclays, the bank at the center of the scandal, helped organize a Romney fund-raiser. The former chief executive, Robert E. Diamond Jr., has since withdrawn his name as the event’s co-host. The bank’s lobbyist, Patrick J. Durkin, remains a co-chairman: he has bundled $1.1 million for Mr. Romney from friends and business associates, more than any other lobbyist, according to federal records.

..........

In a sign of just how politicized the scandal has become, 11 members of Parliament recently signed a resolution, naming Mr. Romney, that called for Barclays executives to “cease fund-raising for political candidates” and focus on rebuilding consumer confidence in the banking system.


Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/20/us/politics/london-fund-raisers-may-put-mitt-romney-in-banking-scandals-glare.html?_r=1

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Co-sponsor of the Early Day Motion, Grahame Morris MP, told Left Foot Forward:

Parliamentary motion calls on Barclays’s senior staff to stop fundraising for Romney

“Barclays executives have had their eyes off the ball for too long now. They must now stop fundraising for US Republican candidates and start rebuilding public confidence in the banking system here in the UK which they have done so much harm to.

“Parliament must send a strong message to these banking elites that it is no longer business as usual. Politicians are expressing the outrage felt by the ordinary people we represent.”


MORE:
http://www.leftfootforward.org/2012/07/mitt-romney-barclays-fundraiser-parliament-edm/
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/07/20/1111962/-UK-Parliament-Fundraising-by-Bankers-Resolution-Names-Mitt-Romney-specifically

[myrna minx]

1. K&R

[SoapBox]

2. Me thinks...

Mittens LOVES foreign money!

Foreign money...putting his money in foreign locations...foreign, foreign, foreign.

Gee Mr. and Mrs. Mittens, seems that you don't really like the good old U.S. of A.!

[KamaAina]

3. But, but, but, raising foreign money is BAD

at least when Johnny Chung does it.

Oh, right. These people are white.

[Iliyah]

4. Mittens is rich

and right now rich people gets away with breaking laws.

[lilithsrevenge12]

5. HAH! K&R

[DCKit]

6. Romney will be baffled by this turn of events, and will blame Obama.

After all, it's not as if he's asking convicted criminals for money.

[McCamy Taylor]

7. WTF is Romney having a London fundraiser?

This is foreign money.

[mwooldri]

8. The UK Early Day Motion ... if it had Tory backing would be significant.

However all the signers of the EDM are Labour MPs (SDLP for Northern Ireland).

But since bank executives are big out on the radar ... and it is sensitive... I'm glad those MPs called up for an EDM on the issue of bank senior staff raising money for a US politician when they're running the UK bank down into the ground. Point being simple: the UK government has bailed out enough banks, and it doesn't want to have Barclays get into the trouble pretty much all other UK main retail banks got into.

[Rosa Luxemburg]

9. Glad that that the NYT is on this

[wordpix]

11. I don't know the laws re: US candidates taking foreign $ but

I would think there are some