Mortgage Reform Bill Drafter Takes Wall Street Gig

Washington Free Beacon - September 5, 2014 - September 5, 2014

Washington Free Beacon, By Alana Goodman

The Countrywide-executive-turned-Senate-aide who crafted the controversial housing finance reform bill has moved back to the private sector—to an asset management firm that would be one of the biggest beneficiaries of the legislation.

Michael Bright, the former senior financial adviser to Sen. Bob Corker (R., Tenn), worked as a mortgage trader at Countrywide Financial and Wachovia before joining the senator’s office. He was one of the key architects of the Corker-Warner housing reform bill and a successive bill initiated by Sens. Mike Crapo (R., Idaho) and Tim Johnson (D., S.D.).

Bright said on Thursday that he recently left Corker’s office to take a job at BlackRock, Inc., a top financial management firm that has mounted an expensive lobbying campaign on the housing finance reform bill.

“I recently began work with BlackRock in their financial markets advisers unit within BlackRock Solutions,” Bright wrote in an email to colleagues obtained by the Washington Free Beacon. “I will be splitting time between N.Y. and D.C., but mainly housed in the D.C. office, so I hope to see you all soon.”

Read full article: Mortgage Reform Bill Drafter Takes Wall Street Gig