January 17, 2020 Washington Wire

Report: Barclays Warns Investors Of A Warren Presidency

By John Hilton

Barclays is warning Wall Street to be very wary of Sen. Elizabeth Warren's campaign for the White House, according to a story out this morning.

Mother Jones, a liberal news website, reports that it has copies of internal memorandums circulated by Barclays, a powerful London-based bank and financial services firm. In one such memo, the bank warns that a Warren presidency "would directly impact corporate earnings."

While the memos have been known for some time, Mother Jones said it is the first outlet to report comprehensively on their contents. The bank did not respond to a request for comment for the story.

Warren, D-Mass, has slipped a bit in recent weeks, but remains in a tough fight with Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., as the main liberal alternative to frontrunner and former vice president Joe Biden.

On her website, Warren touts a plan for "Holding Wall Street Accountable." It includes a 21st Century Glass-Steagall Act that breaks up the big banks and re-establishes the wall between commercial and investment banking "to make our financial system more stable and secure."

Another idea overhauls the private equity industry "so that Wall Street executives can’t bleed companies dry and walk away with millions while workers lose their jobs." And it imposes tough new executive compensation rules "to discourage needless speculation and encourage productive investments."

Then there's Warren's "ultra millionaires tax." It would impose a 2% levy on individual fortunes over $50 million and 3% on those over $1 billion to raise, she claims, about $2.75 trillion over 10 years. In her Medicare for All plan, she even floated a 6% levy for billionaires.

Wall Street executives began an offensive against Warren in the fall, even going after her disputed claims of Native American heritage.

Hedge fund CEO Leon Cooperman, on CNBC, called out the controversy over Warren's claims to Native American heritage and saying, "We don't need another fabricator in the White House."

And former Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein just jumped into the fray, suggesting "tribalism is just in her DNA."

InsuranceNewsNet Senior Editor John Hilton has covered business and other beats in more than 20 years of daily journalism. John may be reached at john.hilton@innfeedback.com. Follow him on Twitter @INNJohnH.