Kamala Harris had a lot of friends on Wall Street before she became vice president. If she pulls out a victory in November, they’re hoping she can give them a better seat at the table than they got with President Joe Biden. The financial world has been clashing with top Wall Street and corporate regulators throughout Biden’s three and a half years in office, sparring over everything from climate-risk disclosure and hedge fund regulation to M&A. But executives, lobbyists and business leaders see the chance for relief with the ascension of Harris, whose industry ties could portend a softer approach to how the White House navigates corporate America. “She has a lot of relationships here, not just Wall Street,” said Kathy Wylde, president and CEO of the Partnership for New York City, a nonprofit organization that represents the city’s top business leaders. “Biden did not have as many deep personal connections here.” Many CEOs “like that she’s pragmatic even if you disagree with her,” said Laurel Strategies Founder, Chair and CEO Alan Fleischmann, whose firm helps executives with business strategy, geopolitical affairs and messaging. Former UBS Americas Chairman and CEO Robert Wolf told MM that a Harris administration would make sure that capitalism and entrepreneurship “thrive” but in “a fair way.” Jon Henes – Harris’s 2020 fundraising chair and the leader of a New York and Chicago-based corporate restructuring firm – said he has received hundreds of phone calls and texts from Wall Street, Big Law and Hollywood donors looking to back the former U.S. senator and California attorney general. The big test for Harris will be if she can build on those ties while not alienating progressives and financial watchdogs, who have been encouraged by the Biden administration’s aggressive stance on antitrust and securities regulation – and whose backing she will also need to get elected. Leading Wall Street critics like Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) have already extended their support. The Revolving Door Project’s Jeff Hauser, a longtime critic of the financial sector’s influence on the government, told MM that Harris has been comfortable with the party’s leftward policy shift and that she would embrace the “good politics” of regulating Wall Street, reining in monopoly power and protecting consumers. Harris’s track record and reputation have sometimes diverged. A landmark achievement of her time as California’s top cop was an $18 billion post-financial crisis relief settlement with big banks and mortgage lenders. She has supported taxing financial transactions — a big Wall Street no-no — and rejected efforts to unwind key Dodd-Frank market reforms that were sought by industry. But she’s also often considered friendlier to businesses than many of her Democratic colleagues. “She’s willing to have a conversation with everyone, including business. And she believes that just with the power of her bully pulpit and covening power she can make industry-wide changes,” said Daniel Suvor, who was chief of policy to Harris while she was California’s attorney general. She would often call up CEOs or corporate attorneys to try to work through issues rather than pursue enforcement actions, he added. Still: “She’s clearly demonstrated a willingness to stand up to Wall Street, to protect workers and families from an unchecked financial sector,” Suvor said. That approach has also made it harder for both watchdogs and industry leaders to forecast how she will approach economic and financial policy should she secure the presidency. But her allies also view it as an advantage over the Trump ticket. Harris has “always had great relationships in the business world,” Henes told MM, saying that will contrast favorably with the policies advocated by Trump’s running mate Ohio Sen. JD Vance, “who has been outwardly against Wall Street.” While Trump has assuaged the doubts of many on Wall Street, Democrats in the financial services world believe a Harris administration would offer more stability, multiple sources said. Her track record would suggest there aren’t many meaningful gaps between her and Biden when it comes to economic and regulatory policies, Wells Fargo Investment Institute President Darrell Cronk told MM. Would that change if she won in November? “I don't think we know enough yet to kind of map that out,” he said. “As she starts to come out and reintroduce herself right to the voting electorate, we'll start to get better signs about where her policy priorities may lie — and also exactly how aggressive or how non-aggressive she's going to be.” IT’S TUESDAY — Have any more specific thoughts on how Harris might handle econ policy? Did you work for her? Let us know at ssutton@politico.com and dharty@politico.com
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