Easing Up on Dodd
For the past two years Senate Banking Committee Chairman Chris Dodd was met with largely bad press, but he won a brief reprieve last week as he announced he was retiring at yearend.
Dana Milbank of The Washington Post praised the Connecticut Democrat for his honesty, noting that Dodd said it would be "pathetic" to claim he was leaving to spend more time with his family.
"This was a classy departure for a man who has had his share of embarrassments in recent years," Milbank wrote.
The Hartford Courant, while saying Dodd "may have become too comfortable in his job," still gave the lawmaker credit for his legislative accomplishments.
"He's had a great go at being senator," the paper said. "He's a major league political player, a lion in his own right, a workhorse who managed four major pieces of legislation last year alone, a partisan who could nonetheless reach across the aisle, a lawmaker good at the inside game. He has occasionally disappointed, yes; but on balance he's delivered."
It wasn't all positive though. Most papers recounted the troubles that led to Dodd's departure.
"In the aftermath, Dodd attempted to reinvent himself as a scourge of Wall Street, veering even toward some unwise and excessive crackdowns. Too late. The game was up, and the once mighty hath fallen," New York's Daily News wrote.
But Dodd also won plaudits from House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank, who said he was "consistently impressed with Senator Dodd's ability to act effectively in the difficult parliamentary environment of the Senate."
Visa on Defensive?
It isn't strange to see financial services companies put out a vigorous marketing campaign near Capitol Hill in an attempt to sway lawmakers and their staff.
What is odd is when the campaign focuses — at least in part — on what the company does not do.
Such is the case lately with billboards from Visa Inc. that, among other things, feature a giant ad prominently displayed in the Union Station metro that reads, "Visa does not issue cards or extend credit."
The ad caught the eye of Adam Levitin, a Georgetown Law School professor specializing in bankruptcy and commercial law, who
"One rarely sees such a defensive ad," Levitin wrote. "When was the last time you saw a company advertising what it does not do? That bespeaks a major branding problem. It might as well have said 'I am not a crook' or 'We do not harm small furry animals.' "
The ads are a part of Visa Inc.'s "Currency of Progress" campaign launched in the Washington area in October. The campaign is designed to differentiate Visa from banks and frame the interchange debate as Congress considers such legislation. A Visa spokesman said the company believes "that the more we communicate what Visa is and what exactly we do, the better we will be understood and our product benefits recognized."
But Levitin said it showed Visa was afraid. "This looks like the ad of a company that is running scared," he wrote.
Exec in Demand
Bob Kelly has a new job, though it lets him remain at Bank of New York Mellon Corp.
Kelly, who was considered to succeed Ken Lewis as the CEO of Bank of America Corp., was named chairman of the Financial Services Forum. Kelly, Bank of New York Mellon's chairman and CEO, started a two-year term this month, succeeding MetLife Inc. chairman and CEO Rob Henrikson. "I'm honored to serve as the Forum's chairman at this critical time for our industry and the global economy," Kelly said. "As Congress considers much-needed reform of our financial supervisory framework and initiatives to create jobs, our insights into the inner workings of the markets will help ensure meaningful improvements."
The Financial Services Forum is an economic policy organization that joins the CEOs of 18 of the biggest financial services firms with U.S. operations.
New Fincen Deputy
The Financial Crimes Enforcement Agency has hired Charles Steele as its deputy director.
Steele joins Fincen after 21 years at the Justice Department. In April 2006 he lead the team to finalize the establishment of the Justice Department's National Security Division. At Justice, he was also chief of staff for the first two assistant attorneys general for national security.
Steele succeeds Bill Baity, who is retiring after 10 years as the agency's deputy director.
