Ten years after the financial crisis, a majority of members of the Congress that wrapped up work in 2018 voted again and again for bills pushed by the bank lobby that endanger financial stability, undermine consumer and investor protections, and enable racial discrimination in lending. The change in control of the House and a heightened awareness of the dangers posed by these actions provide an opportunity to see what changes in the 116th Congress.
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The changes drew a rare rebuke last month from Daniel Tarullo, the Fed governor who led the effort to forge Wall Street’s post-crisis rulebook. Among other problems with relaxed stress tests, he said, by offering more advanced clues to banks, the process allows the firms to “find clever ways to reshape their assets” to pass without reducing risk. After the current crop of regulators have moved on, Tarullo said, “somewhere down the line, someone else will suffer that damage.”
This report discusses how the long-term trend to Wall Street-led growth has been harming the public, and some of the ways the Trump Administration is contributing to it. In particular, the report discusses how today’s deregulation of Wall Street will make the next recession worse and increase the likelihood of repeating the bailouts we saw in response to the 2008 crisis.
Americans for Financial Reform Education Fund raised concerns over weakening resolution planning requirements intended to prepare large bank holding companies for an orderly resolution in conventional bankruptcy without risk to financial stability and without any reliance on extraordinary public support of the failed bank or its counterparties.
Americans for Financial Reform Education Fund sent a letter to banking regulators opposing a proposal that would make the resolution planning process substantially less stringent than it currently is, and raising concerns over the safety and soundness of individual banks and the effect on U.S. financial stability.
Regulatory agencies purport to “tailor” prudential rules, but they are severely undermining capital and liquidity requirements for foreign banks operating in the U.S.
The 22 community, housing, civil rights, consumer and other organizations believe that HUD must carefully assess the risks and benefits of the Opportunity Zone investments. The Opportunity Zone program poses substantial risks to lower-income households and households of color that already face rapidly rising housing costs and a declining availability of affordable housing options
Given the unfortunate demise of the Department of Labor (DOL) Fiduciary Rule and the glaring deficiencies in the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC’s) Regulation Best Interest, we greatly appreciate states such as New Jersey that are willing to step in to fill the regulatory void by providing the protections investors need and expect.
Today, Americans for Financial Reform joined a coalition of national consumer and civil rights groups in writing to top banking regulators on the importance of preventing banks from once again issuing payday loans that trap people in a cycle of debt.
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