Last month, here in Financial Regulation Matters , we discussed how the leading tobacco companies had increased their presence in Washington, D.C., since the arrival of Donald Trump, which went against Trump’s ‘drain the swamp’ campaign trail mantra but also revealed that the industry had recognised the need to undertake an increased and concerted lobbying campaign. This recognition was this week confirmed as an astute recognition because, on a number of fronts, the industry is being put under incredible pressure. So, in this post, the focus will be on assessing this new environment for the industry in order to question whether the industry even has a future at all. The global market for cigarettes alone stands at $700 billion, according to British American Tobacco (BAT), which represents an increase despite the fact that global cigarette consumption has been reducing year-on-year. Yet, in the modern age, it is obvious why the industry would want to protect that level of growt...

There are two issues which are the focus for today’s post, and both have been covered on separate occasions before here in Financial Regulation Matters . In February we discussed how the stated aims of President Trump, namely to ‘ drain the swamp ’ with regards to lobbying influence in Washington, D.C., were immediately proven to be nothing more than lip-service with the introduction of an Executive Order that preserved the ability of Congressional and White-House Officials to lobby after their term has expired. Then, in June, we discussed how large investors and other financial organisations were beginning to develop a societally-focused approach to their business, which translated into a reduction in investment in companies that profit from providing social ills, like tobacco companies. In today’s post we will look at an article that was published in The Guardian that discusses the actualities of the lobbying environment since Trump took office, with particular attention paid t...