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Ex-Enron chief lobbied top treasury officials

Former Enron Corp chief executive Kenneth Lay offered then-Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin a seat on the Enron board of directors in 1999, a time when Enron was lobbying hard against efforts to regulate its derivatives-trading business, the Washington Post reported on Thursday.

The paper said letters and other documents released by the US Treasury department under a Freedom of Information Act request by the Washington Post and other news organisations show how Lay sought to influence the Clinton Administration on issues affecting Enron.

The report said the Clinton Administration, led by treasury officials, decided against government oversight of derivative traders. In December 2000, Congress adopted that policy in legislation that exempted from government oversight the kind of energy derivative contracts traded by Enron.

Lay also sought help from the Bush Administration officials last fall before the company filed for bankruptcy protection.

The post said the newly released documents show lay offered Rubin a seat on the Enron board two days after Rubin announced he was resigning as President Bill Clinton's Treasury Secretary.

According to the paper, lay wrote: ''If you are considering joining any corporate boards, I would very much like to talk to you.''

Rubin, now a Citigroup Inc executive, turned down the offer. Citigroup is one of Enron's main creditors.

''Bob Rubin was offered 30 to 40 board memberships. Rubin had no interest; he declined,'' Leah Johnson, a Citigroup spokeswoman, told the Post.

The newspaper said on the same day Lay made the offer to Rubin he sent a letter to congratulate Lawrence Summers, the incoming treasury secretary.

Five months later, in another letter, Lay complained to Summers about proposals to regulate over-the-counter derivatives, the report said.

A few months after, Lay referred to his connections with Rubin in a letter to summers, urging treasury officials to back off from proposals to regulate Enron's derivatives-trading business, the Post reported.

''Enron believes there is no need for any additional regulation'' because there have been no problems,'' Lay wrote.

He then asked for a chance ''to make our case'' if increased regulation was in the offing and requested ''a call or note'' in reply.

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