European NGOs form new group to counter banking lobby

A clutch of European consumer groups, unions and non-governmental organisations are banding together to form a pressure group to push for financial reform and counter the influence of the banking industry. The new group, Finance Watch, announced Saturday that nearly 30 organisations will join the lobby, including charity group Oxfam, the European
Federation of Investors, the European Trade Union Confederation and the BEUC consumers group. "Finance Watch is being created out of a belief that good financial services are essential for society and carry a strong public interest dimension," the organisation said in a statement.
"But all too often, efforts to improve the rules that govern the financial system are undermined by an asymmetry of lobbying where only the arguments of the financial industry appear to be heard," it said. Finance Watch will have a small staff of legal and technical experts as well as professional lobbyists to directly lobby lawmakers and regulators. A group of 22 Euro-MPs first launched the idea of creating Finance Watch last June as a "counterweight to the lobbying power of the financial industry on issues related to banking and the functioning of the financial industry," the statement said.