The so-called collusion from the email:

[...] I know that Christie and the team are doing everything they can to get a good deal in very difficult negotiations, but I'm worried about where it seems things are headed with regard to my industry.

In particular, I wanted to underscore how important it is for the financial services industry to get robust commitments on ISDS in the agreement - including on pre-establishment and the full range of fair treatment (MST, NT, MFN) provisions. These measures are critical to make the TPP a meaningful agreement and, as importantly, they set a powerful precedent for the US-China BIT.

You have a lot of competing priorities that you need to manage in these and other negotiations. However, denying our industry the same rights as enjoyed by virtually every other sector would be terribly unfortunate. Our industry rivals any other as an exporter of US services and as a significant American commercial presence across the globe. In that regard, I hope you and your outstanding team continue to do everything you can to ensure dispute settlement rights for investors in financial institutions and to make this agreement commercially meaningful for the financial services sector.

Thank you for bringing great energy to the trade agenda at USTR.

All the best,

Faryar Shirzad, Managing Director, Goldman, Sachs & Co.

Yes, this really sounds like collusion, a managing director of a major investment banking firm asking the U.S. Trade Representative to do his best to look after the interests of the financial sector of the United States in a fucking global trade agreement.