washington<u+2014>after largely opposing his 2016 presidential campaign, financial-services executives are making fast friends with president-elect donald trump. bank executives and lobbyists are helping raise the millions mr. trump needs to finance his transition and inaugural festivities. the independent community bankers of america, a major trade group, is booking events at the trump international hotel here. several other financial-services trade groups, such as the american bankers association, are responding to trump aides<u+2019> calls to suggest individuals who could serve in top financial regulatory posts in his administration. and the financial services roundtable is helping raise money for an event<u+2014>that mr. trump will headline<u+2014>in new york next week that aims to raise $4 million for the transition effort. the coordinated efforts are the latest sign that wall street could wind up being a big winner under mr. trump, despite his broadsides against big banks during the presidential campaign. on tuesday, mr. trump chose two wall street investors for key positions in his cabinet. steven mnuchin, a former executive at goldman sachs group inc. who was his campaign<u+2019>s chief fundraiser, was picked as treasury secretary . private-equity investor wilbur ross was tapped to be commerce secretary. the overlapping ties also show how difficult it will be for mr. trump to meet his campaign pledge to <u+201c>drain the swamp<u+201d> of special interests in washington while also funding and staffing his transition and administration. the good news for wall street comes after it invested heavily in the presidential campaign of democrat hillary clinton. the securities and investment industry donated more than $78 million to her campaign and allied super pac<u+2014>more than 100 times as much as it gave to support mr. trump<u+2019>s effort, according to the nonpartisan center for responsive politics. despite that lopsided giving, wall street expected to spend the next few years defending itself from regulatory attacks from mrs. clinton and sen. elizabeth warren (d., mass.). instead, the industry now expects the total republican control of the white house and congress to usher in a new era of financial deregulation. <u+201c>it<u+2019>s kind of like putting regulatory relief on steroids,<u+201d> said cam fine, the president of the independent community bankers of america and an early backer of mr. trump. the closer ties between wall street and mr. trump is the latest surprising chapter in mr. trump<u+2019>s long, fraught history with the financial industry. the relationship went from cozy in the 1980s and 1990s to edgy in the 2000s to openly hostile during the white house campaign. through the 1990s, some of the biggest wall street firms regularly loaned money to mr. trump<u+2019>s casino and hotel businesses. deutsche bank ag , ubs ag, lehman brothers and credit suisse first boston were among the firms that vied for business with the new york businessman. after several trump business bankruptcies and other conflicts, the relationship deteriorated. in 2008, mr. trump sued deutsche bank after failing to repay part of a loan on a chicago property. the bank countersued and they settled out of court. by the time mr. trump began the 2016 presidential campaign, few wall street banks had business with him. on the campaign trail, mr. trump blasted the industry. <u+201c>i<u+2019>m not going to let wall street get away with murder,<u+201d> mr. trump said during a january speech. <u+201c>wall street has caused tremendous problems for us.<u+201d> all that changed after mr. trump won the election. since then, the president-elect has met with a range of wall street executives<u+2014>including those who supported him and those who didn<u+2019>t. among them was david mccormick, the president of bridgewater associates, the world<u+2019>s largest hedge fund, also met with mr. trump. mr. mccormick backed former florida gov. jeb bush in last year<u+2019>s gop primary and didn<u+2019>t donate to the president-elect even after he emerged as the gop nominee, according to campaign-finance records. perhaps nothing shows the changed relationship between mr. trump and wall street better than his dealings with goldman sachs before and after the election. as mr. trump geared up his campaign in september 2015, goldman sachs chief executive lloyd blankfein said the idea of mr. trump <u+201c>with his finger on the button blows my mind.<u+201d> during the campaign, mr. trump frequently attacked mrs. clinton<u+2019>s financial ties to goldman sachs.<u+00a0> and last month, in one of his closing campaign ads, mr. trump blasted <u+201c>special interests<u+201d> in an ad that featured a picture of mr. blankfein. after mr. trump won, mr. blankfein called mr. trump<u+2019>s agenda <u+201c>market friendly and asset friendly.<u+201d> and on tuesday, mr. trump met with more than a dozen individuals as he considers cabinet selections. among them: gary cohn, the president and chief operating officer of goldman sachs. a spokesman for goldman sachs declined to comment. meanwhile, the transition team has contacted the american bankers association and the clearing house, among other trade groups, for recommendations of people to serve in regulatory posts, according to people involved with the discussions. mr. trump<u+2019>s aides have also been in touch with mr. fine for ideas about who could serve on the federal reserve board. at least one community banker must serve on the fed board, so<u+00a0>presidents<u+00a0>typically consult with trade groups to solicit their input. mr. trump must appoint dozens of individuals to run agencies that regulate the financial-services sector, including the securities and exchange commission, the office of the comptroller of the currency and the federal deposit insurance corp. mr. fine and community bankers were among the few financial-services interests who backed mr. trump early. the association polled its members earlier this year and found that more than 80% supported mr. trump. in september, mr. fine decided to move several of the association<u+2019>s meetings to the trump international hotel in washington from other hotels, including a dinner for community bankers in april 2017 and a policy conference in 2018. in an interview, mr. fine said the group wanted to try a new hotel for its 2018 conference after meeting in the same hotel for several previous years. <u+201c>like everyone else, we had no idea that trump would be elected president,<u+201d> mr. fine said. the move <u+201c>had nothing to do with his being elected president,<u+201d> he said, adding that the group just thought <u+201c>we would try it out.<u+201d> wall street is also lining up to raise money for mr. trump<u+2019>s transition committee and the presidential inauguration. thomas barrack, a private-equity investor, has been named chairman of the presidential inaugural committee. among others on that committee are gail icahn, the wife of activist investor carl icahn. the financial services roundtable, which represents chief executives of citigroup inc., bank of america corp. , wells fargo & co., and other large u.s. financial firms, is helping to defray mr. trump<u+2019>s transition costs. on monday, the executive director of the trade group sent an invitation to financial-services firms saying the transition team hopes to raise $4 million for the effort at the new york event. mr. trump will attend the event along with several executives who are helping to plan it, including joseph canizaro of first trust corp, investor tommy hicks jr. and investor anthony scaramucci, according to the invitation for the<u+00a0>dec. 7<u+00a0>event. write to brody mullins at brody.mullins@wsj.com , emily glazer at emily.glazer@wsj.com and anupreeta das at anupreeta.das@wsj.com
donald trump and wall street make up quickly - wsj
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