WASHINGTON - Senior bank executives and longtime Washington insiders top the list of financial advisers to President-elect Bush's transition team.
The transition team on Monday released a list of 28 individuals who will advise on financial services matters, including Treasury Department and other agency appointments, international monetary and domestic banking policy, national economic strategy, and enforcement by regulators.
"They have obviously tapped experienced Washington hands and picked up some key players from the financial services industry," said Bert Ely, an independent analyst in Alexandria, Va. "This list reflects strong representation from the commercial banking industry and strong representation from investment bankers."
Mr. Ely noted that the list included several outside executives, such as Douglas Warner, chairman of J.P Morgan Chase & Co., Donald B. Marron, chairman and chief executive officer of Paine Webber Group Inc., and Philip Purcell, chief executive officer at Morgan Stanley Dean Witter & Co.
It is also supplemented with inside-the-Beltway veterans such as Richard Hohlt, a longtime industry lobbyist, Susan Molinari, a former congresswoman from New York, and Donald G. Ogilvie, executive vice president of the American Bankers Association.
Several on the list have close ties to the President-elect or the Republican Party. Mr. Warner has known President-elect Bush for several years, having met him at Yale University in the 1960s. Also on the roster were Gary Gasper, a former senior tax adviser at Treasury for former President George Bush, and Les Brorsen, national director for government relations for the law firm of Ernst & Young, who worked for the Bush campaign.
The list also has representatives from seven of President-elect Bush's top 20 contributors to his campaign, including MBNA America Bank, Ernst & Young, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Citigroup Inc., Goldman Sachs & Co., and Credit Suisse First Boston. MBNA led the pack with more than $237,500 given to the Bush campaign as of Dec. 1, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. Ernst & Young gave more than $175,000, while PricewaterhouseCoopers contributed $127,000 and Citigroup gave $113,000.
But analysts said the Capitol Hill staff members and other politicos staffing the transition will have more influence.
Heading up of transition staff dedicated to financial issues is Timothy Adams, who worked for the campaign. He is assisted by Joe Engelhard, senior counsel for the House Banking Committee, and Dina Ellis, counsel for the Senate Banking Committee.
Mr. Brorsen said that whatever input he and his fellow advisers offer, it will ultimately be the staffers who will take them to Treasury Secretary-designate Paul O'Neill.
"It would be folly to suggest they we have a direct line to Paul O'Neill," Mr. Brorsen said. "This is an opportunity to be helpful and constructive, and get things off to a good start."
The choice of advisers takes on particular importance in light of Mr. O'Neill's lack of experience on banking issues.
Industry advisers said the Bush team has given them broad leeway to make their ideas known. They may comment on rules and proposals that have been released by bank and thrift regulators or recommend possible successors for the heads of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the Office of Thrift Supervision, or the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.
Mr. Ogilvie said he expects to make recommendations on a variety of policy issues, including regulatory burden, deposit insurance reform, bankruptcy reform, and taxes. He said the Bush team had requested comments to be submitted "the sooner, the better." But he said the ABA would not make any personnel recommendations.
Separately, President-elect Bush is expected as early as today to name Lawrence Lindsey, the chief economic adviser on his campaign, to a specially created economic advisory and decision-making position within the White House. Mr. Lindsey is a former Federal Reserve Board governor.
Lisa Daigle contributed to this article.
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