Washington has been lucrative for some on Biden's team

[WASHINGTON] President-elect Joe Biden's choice for Treasury secretary, Janet Yellen, collected more than US$7 million in speaking fees over the past two years from major corporations and Wall Street banks that have a keen interest in the financial policies she will oversee after her expected confirmation to lead the Treasury Department.

Ms Yellen's paid speaking appearances - which included US$992,000 from investment bank Citi for nine appearances - were among the lucrative payments from a range of Wall Street, Big Tech and corporate interests to three prominent prospective members of the incoming Biden administration.

The payments, revealed in disclosure statements covering the previous two years and released on New Year's Eve, have caused consternation among progressive activists concerned about the influence of special interests around Mr Biden, who they see as part of a Democratic establishment that has not sufficiently embraced liberal priorities.

Mr Biden's choice for secretary of state, Antony Blinken, was paid nearly US$1.2 million by a consulting firm he helped found, WestExec Advisors, where he advised a range of corporations including Facebook, Boeing, private equity giant Blackstone and asset management company Lazard.

Mr Biden's choice for director of national intelligence, Avril Haines, was paid US$180,000 to consult for data-mining company Palantir, which has raised liberal hackles for providing data and surveillance services to law enforcement, including the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Along with their disclosure statements, Ms Yellen, Mr Blinken and Ms Haines each filed ethics agreements pledging to avoid involvement in specific matters that could affect any holding they still own, or with which they had worked in the past year, unless they receive a written waiver from ethics officials.

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The three may have to extend the conflict of interest window beyond a year if Mr Biden enacts an expected ethics policy barring officials in his administration from participating for two years in policies that could affect their former business interests.

David Segal, the executive director of the progressive group Demand Progress, said that he still had concerns even though the officials had pledged to abide by conflict of interest rules.

"There are almost too many corporate clients to count who have relationships to the respective ambits these designees would steward if confirmed," he said, adding that "this is an unfortunate circumstance", particularly as Mr Biden strives to strike a difference between his administration and President Donald Trump's.

NYTIMES