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Republican Presidential candidate Mitt Romney is to host a private fundraising dinner in London on the eve of the Olympics – at a cost of up to $75,000 a head. The event, and a separate $2,500 a head reception, will be packed full of banksters and banking lobbyists.
The Boston Globe reports:
Among those hosting the events is Patrick Durkin, a registered lobbyist for Barclays, which has been at the heart of a rate-fixing scandal. Durkin, who has been a top Romney bundler, is one of seven chairs for the reception and among the 13 co-chairs for the dinner.
Others involved in hosting the events are Dwight Poler, managing director at the European branch of Bain Capital, the firm Romney founded; Raj Bhattacharyya, managing director at Deutsche Bank; and Dan Bricken, a managing director at Wells Fargo Securities.
Among the others involved are Woody Johnson, the owner of the New York Jets; Eric Varvel, the chief executive officer of Bank of Credit Suisse; and Gregg Lemkau, who is the Goldman Sachs head of mergers and acquisitions for Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia-Pacific.
London is one of the world banking hubs, with plenty of Americans who are involved in the securities and investment industries that Romney has targeted. This is Romney’s second trip to London to raise money for his presidential campaign.
Disgraced former Barclays chief Bob Diamond was due to attend the private dinner, but withdrew last week as one of the 18 co-hosts, as the FT reports (£):
Mr Diamond had been one of 18 co-hosts for a dinner in London later this month in which guests are being asked to pay between $25,000- $75,000 to raise money for Mr Romney, who will be in town for the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games.
Mr Diamond is one of several top executives at Barclays who have thrown their weight behind Mr Romney to help defeat President Barack Obama. He also hosted similar events in support of John McCain during the 2008 presidential campaign.
Adding:
At least 15 of Barclays Capital’s most senior bankers based in the US have donated $2,500 to the Romney campaign, the maximum allowable individual donation per election, Federal Election Committee filings show.
The executives include Tom Kalaris, chief of wealth and investment management, Marty Malloy, head of prime brokerage, Hugh “Skip” McGee, head of investment banking, Dean Maki, chief US economist and Gregg Chow, global head of FX.
Patrick Durkin, the British bank’s head of government policy and finance group, has raised $927,000 for Mr Romney as one of the candidate’s top bundlers, supporters who collect donations from others. Mr Durkin has also chaired six policy roundtables for Mr Romney…
Many bankers see Mr Romney, the founder and former chief executive at private equity firm Bain Capital, as more sympathetic to their industry, especially on regulation and taxes.
And the quid pro quo for the bankers bankrolling the billionaire?
Mr Romney has promised to try to repeal the Dodd-Frank law, passed by the Democratic-controlled Congress with Mr Obama’s support in response to the financial crisis.
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Bankers, banking lobbyists and other finance industry fat cats pumping millions and millions and millions into Mitt Romney’s election fund – a man who, if elected, will repeal the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (pdf), an Act that implements financial regulatory reform and keeps his chums in check. The Romney campaign: The most corrupt in recent US history?