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CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- A national watchdog group is highlighting the banking job of Rep. Shelley Moore Capito's husband as the congresswoman's committee weighs legislation that affects the financial industry.

The West Virginia Republican chairs the Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit Subcommittee of the House Financial Services Committee. Her husband, Charlie, works for Wells Fargo Advisors.

Shelley Moore Capito sponsored legislation that would postpone new limits on the so-called "swipe fees" that banks and credit card companies charge to merchants when their customers pay with credit and debit cards.

"We believe the public has the right to know that a bill you have authored is considered a key legislative goal of the bank that just hired your husband," the group, which opposes the legislation, wrote to Capito in a letter dated Tuesday.

The letter cites Wells Fargo's annual report, in which the company called the swipe-fee limits "government price controls...[that] distort our market-based, free-enterprise economy."

Public Citizen is a consumer advocacy organization founded 40 years ago by Ralph Nader.

The group's letter had asked Capito to make a public declaration of her husband's employment Wednesday when her committee opened up debate on that bill and others. The committee also was considering legislation that would weaken the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, an agency that is a key part of the financial oversight reforms passed last year.

In a statement to the Gazette, Capito spokeswoman Jamie Corley said the congresswoman has always been clear about her husband's employment.

"This isn't news," Corley said. "How can Public Citizen urge the congresswoman to disclose her husband's job and then cite a newspaper article from Monday that, well, disclosed her husband's job?"

She called the group's statements "clearly a publicity stunt on the part of Public Citizen, and not a very good one at that."

"The congresswoman follows House disclosure rules to a T and has always been forthcoming about her husband's 35-year career in the banking industry," Corley said. "She is focused on representing her constituents and overseeing important hearings, markups and bills in her committee and does not have time to respond to baseless claims."

Public Citizen financial policy advocate Bart Naylor said Capito is "one of the three or four most powerful people in Congress shaping bank law, the law that affects her husband's company."

Naylor added that many conflicts of interest exist among members of Congress.

"For better or for worse, Ms. Capito is not alone," he said.

The letter cites an article published Monday in the Charleston Daily Mail about Charlie Capito's move from United Bank to Wells Fargo Advisors, the investment arm of Wells Fargo & Co.

In March, he took a job managing the company's offices in Charleston, Huntington, Parkersburg and Beckley. He previously worked as a United Bank executive since 2009.

"In [the new] position, Mr. Capito is unlikely to be directly affected by the legislation that you are sponsoring," Public Citizen wrote in its letter.

"At the same time, Wells Fargo claims to be the second largest bank for consumer deposits in the United States and the second largest issuer of debit cards," the group wrote. "Fee income from such sources as swipe fees is the highest as a percent of assets among the largest banks in the United States."

Public Citizen also noted that Capito's biography on her website doesn't mention her husband's occupation or employer.

"The only thing that you learn about her husband is that she has one," Naylor said.

Capito's committee on Wednesday endorsed a package of legislation that would restructure the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau in a way consumer advocates say would severely weaken its powers. It did not vote on the swipe-fee bill, Naylor said.

Reach Alison Knezevich at alis...@wvgazette.com or 304-348-1240.