The Eris Group helps our clients develop integrated legislative, regulatory and political strategies to meet their objectives. Our forte is "retail lobbying"; direct and frequent contact with policymakers on our clients' behalf.
Samuel Baptista
Sam Baptista has been a lobbyist on federal financial services issues for over 25 years. Throughout his lobbying career, he has represented individual financial services companies, groups of companies, and leading trade associations for the financial services industry. In these positions he has played a lead role in nearly all of the most significant financial services legislation that has been enacted in the last two decades, including the Competitive Equality Banking Act (CEBA) (1987); the Financial Institution Reform, Recovery, and Enforcement Act (FIRREA) (1989); the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Improvement Act (FDICIA) (1991); the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (1999); and the Sarbanes-Oxley Act.
Currently, Sam is president of “The Baptista Group”, an independent strategic planning and political consulting firm providing comprehensive public policy management.
From June 1999 until March of 2006, Sam served as Managing Director in charge of Government Relations for Morgan Stanley. In this capacity he was responsible for overseeing the firm’s global public policy activities.
Before joining Morgan Stanley, Sam was instrumental in the founding of the Financial Services Council and became the Council’s President in June, 1987. The primary purpose of the Financial Services Council -- whose participants were CEOs and senior executives of leading financial services companies -- was to facilitate the coordination and execution of legislative and other activities designed to promote the development of an open and competitive financial services marketplace. FSC members included, among others, American Express, Bank of America, Bank One, Citigroup, JP Morgan, Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley, Prudential and USAA.
Before joining the Financial Services Council, Sam was Director of Legislative Affairs for the American Financial Services Association, from September 1985 – June 1987. In late 1985 he founded the Mayflower Group, an informal coalition united to support pro-competitive financial services legislation and oppose regressive measures, which ultimately became the Financial Services Council.
Prior to his employment with AFSA, Sam was Director of Legislative Affairs for VISA U.S.A., Inc. He also previously served as Federal Legislative Representative for the American Bankers Association and Legislative Assistant to Congressman Paul G. Rogers.
A graduate of Florida State University, Sam has also worked for the Internal Revenue Service as well as the Florida Legislature.