Overview
Today, Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee for president, announced that Governor Mike Pence of Indiana will be his running mate. By virtue of the fact that Pence is a current governor, the presumptive Republican vice president nominee will now subject the Republican ticket to various pay-to-play rules:
- Securities and Exchange Commission Rule 206(4)-5 for investment advisers
- Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board Rule G-37 for municipal securities dealers and - effective on August 17, 2016 - municipal advisors
- Commodity Futures Trading Commission Rule 23.451 for swap dealers
Those in the donor community who are subject to pay-to-play rules (specifically those in the financial services sector) may be limited in how much they can contribute to the Trump-Pence ticket. Companies should have in place compliance policies and procedures to safeguard against the negative consequences resulting from prohibitions that can be triggered by certain contributions (including bans on business), and employees should be aware of the actions that could lead to violations of the rules.
We have previously analyzed this issue for Corporate Counsel in the context of New Jersey Governor Chris Christie’s presidential run, which can be found here. Further, we have taken a look at various campaign-related issues in our article “How Companies Can Avoid Campaign Finance and Pay-to-Play Pitfalls.”
Steptoe’s Campaign Finance and Political Law practice is ready to assist you and your entity during this election season. If you have questions, please contact Jason Abel or Scott Sinder.
