From the Wall Street Journal:
Executives from Cargill Inc., instrumental last month in persuading House Agriculture Chairman Collin Peterson to change a provision in his derivatives legislation that would have hurt the company's commodities hedging business, Wednesday played a central role at a U.S. House hearing where two top Cargill executives testified about the bill.Bill Hale, a Cargill senior vice president, testified that a proposal requiring custom derivatives products be settled through centralized exchange clearinghouses would hurt Cargill's large number of over-the-counter hedging tools sold to farming companies. George Taylor, president of Cargill's cotton unit, appeared on a separate committee panel to offer his support for Rep. Peterson's bill.
Although Cargill, a privately-held international agriculture conglomerate, is based in Rep. Peterson's home state of Minnesota, it is unusual for one company to have multiple representatives testify at a congressional hearing. Agricultural interests are a significant portion of Rep. Peterson's constituency and the financial support he receives from campaign contributions....MORE
