Dennis Kelleher, of the financial-reform group Better Markets, pithily summarized the issue for me. “The push-out rule said you can do all the derivatives trading you want,” he noted. “You just can’t shift your losses to the American people.” By inserting its stealth provision, the banking giant ensured that “taxpayers are now on the hook for highrisk derivatives trading. That’s why Citigroup drafted it, that’s why Citigroup spent a fortune on lawyers and lobbyists and campaign contributions to make it happen.”

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Read the full Harpers Magazine story by Andrew Cockburn here.