Forum finds the spotlight

An industry that already wields huge clout is getting another mouthpiece in Washington, but this one will echo straight from the executive suites of Wall Street – and then some.

The appointment last week of former congressman Rick Lazio as president and CEO of the Financial Services Forum pushed the exclusive group into the spotlight for the first time since it was formed last year.

The forum was created almost casually after the heads of large financial services firms joined forces to argue for industry modernization in Washington.

William Harrison, now chairman and CEO of J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., and Philip Purcell, chairman and CEO of Morgan Stanley Dean Witter & Co., championed the idea.

Its 21 members also include top executives of Citigroup Inc., Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Merrill Lynch & Co. Inc., Fidelity Investments and American Express Co. Inc.

The hiring of Mr. Lazio, 43, who lost a bid for the Senate against Hillary Rodham Clinton, coincides with the forum’s plans to open its first Washington office later this year.

“The group always anticipated that after a certain period of time, we’d need to have a Washington capability,” says George Vojta, the forum’s first president, who will stay on to oversee forum projects.

“There are a number of issues that [the group] will address that will reach a stage where effective representation in Washington is important,” he explains.

Logical extension

The Financial Services Forum has come out in support of the pending bankruptcy reform legislation and a pension reform bill that aims to increase retirement savings.

Mr. Lazio notes that other trade groups such as the Securities Industry Association already focus on smaller issues on Capitol Hill that affect the industry.

“The forum’s mission is really long-term, long-range thinking at the most senior level,” he says.

The group, for example, is not involved in the debate over Section 31 fees that the Securities and Exchange Commission charges securities firms – fees that the SIA has been lobbying to reduce. But it has played a role in the tax cut debate.

“Any format that gets CEOs and other executives of financial services involved in the democratic process and politics is good,” says Steve Bartlett, president of the Financial Services Roundtable, whose membership consists of the 100 largest financial services companies.

But he also concedes that a day may come when the two groups unite. “If you were a political science professor, you’d probably look at both and say it would be more efficient [to combine],” he says. “But I don’t think it’s something we’ll lose sleep over.”

Unlike other industry groups, the forum does not have a political action committee to raise campaign contributions, and federal law prevents Mr. Lazio from lobbying his former Capitol Hill colleagues for another year. But he isn’t ruling out an eventual lobbying role.

“It’s really premature [to speculate],” says the former member of the House Banking and Commerce committees. “My job is to … develop a vision … to develop public policy and be an advocate for our positions.”