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The energy groups dominated the frenetic lobbying effort surrounding the rule and its exemption. Firms dispatched executives to testify before Congress, hired an army of lobbyists and lawyers to draft comment letters and held more than 100 meetings with regulators to discuss the rule, records show. The Coalition of Physical Energy Companies hired the law firm of the former New York City mayor, Rudolph W. Giuliani, to plead its case in Washington. The other group that included Shell and BP had more than 10 meetings with regulators.
That coalition, led by law firm Hunton & Williams, also hired a consulting firm and a former prominent regulator, Sharon Brown-Hruska, to study the rule. Ms. Brown-Hruska, who was acting chairwoman of the C.F.T.C. under President George W. Bush, concluded that “the proposed expansive definition of ‘swap dealer’ is contrary to the public interest.” The study said the rule would reduce liquidity in markets and cause energy companies to cede their business to riskier too-big-to-fail banks.
That concern was echoed by a trade group representing midsize banks, which urged regulators in a letter “to closely examine and understand the low-risk nature of small dealers’ businesses in connection with establishing the criteria for the de minimis exemption.”
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