Goldman Sachs Group spends $1.58 million in 2nd qtr lobbying on financial regulatory overhaul

Goldman Sachs spends $1.58M on lobbying in 2nd qtr

NEW YORK — Goldman Sachs Group Inc. spend $1.58 million in the second quarter to lobby the federal government on issues related to the financial regulatory overhaul that President Obama signed in July.

That’s more than double the $630,000 the investment bank spent in last year’s second quarter. For the first six months of the year, Goldman Sachs spent $2.77 million on lobbying as Wall Street regulations came to the forefront of the national agenda.

Its lobbying expenditures for the first half of the year were third among the top 10 banks that received money under the Troubled Asset Relief Program, or TARP. Goldman repaid the $10 billion in loans it received through the program in June 2009.

New York-based Goldman discussed a variety of issues related to financial reform with lawmakers and regulators, including derivatives, bank taxes, financial risk management and market structure. Other topics included municipal finance, small business funding, community investment, the jobs bill, unemployment compensation extensions and transportation funding.

Goldman lobbyists also raised issues regarding climate change, clean energy and other energy policies and international trade agreements.

The bank lobbied Congress, the White House, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., the Federal Reserve, the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Commodities Futures Trading Commission, the Internal Revenue Service, and the Treasury, Labor and Commerce departments during the April-to-June period, according to the report filed on July 20 with the House clerk’s office.

Matt Niemeyer who worked for former Rep. Gerald Solomon, and the U.S. Trade Representative’s office, is among those registered to lobby for Goldman Sachs, based on the report.