12 February 2009

Capito Assets Eyed

The nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics says Capito had the most invested of any House Financial Services Committee member with the eight Wall Street firms whose top executives appeared before that panel this week.

The CEO had been called to testify "about how their companies are using billions of dollars in bailout funds," the group noted. "Nearly every member of the committee received contributions associated with these financial institutions during the 2008 election cycle, for a total of $1.8 million. And 18 of the lawmakers have their own personal funds invested in the companies."

Besides listing investments worth between $1.1 million and $5.3 million in her latest financial disclosure, Capito also received $61,699 in contributions from those interests - behind only the ranking Republican among the committee's GOP members.

The numbers prompted this observation in a New York Times item Wednesday:

Some members of the committee may have a more personal reason to go after the bankers: They are shareholders of these banks and, as a result, have only seen the value of their holdings plummet.

The biggest loser may well be Representative Shelley Moore Capito, a West Virginia Republican who reported having $1.1 million to $5.3 million invested in some of these banks prior the collapse in their stock prices.
Earlier this year, Roll Call speculated that Capito may have taken the largest hit to personal assets among House members, "thanks to the credit crisis that has cleaved the value of shares in banks and other financial institutions."

That article traced her potential losses to what was then a massive slide in the stock of Citigroup, where her husband is an executive with one of its divisions.

No comments: