To: Michael Froman, U.S. Trade Representative

No Backroom Favors for Financial Giants in "Fast Track"

Disclose all communication between yourself and representatives of the ten largest financial institutions--including lobbyists, employees, and trade associations--during your tenure as U.S. trade representative.

Why is this important?

United States Trade Representative Michael Froman is one of the key people negotiating details of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade deal. But his dealings with the largest financial institutions that are lobbying for passage of the TPP demand more attention.

Froman has a cozy relationship with big banks and other financial institutions. He helped Barack Obama raise money from Citigroup during his 2004 Senate and 2008 presidential campaigns. Froman remained on Citigroup’s payroll while working to load the executive branch with bank-friendly officials as co-chair of President Obama’s transition committee in 2008. And Froman received a $4-million golden parachute from Citigroup when he left to join the Obama Administration.

Big banks may see Fast Track authority for the TPP and other trade deals as a backdoor opportunity to undermine financial regulations. The American people deserve to know what the U.S. trade representative is promising these institutions and asking of them in return.