AFR wrote a letter to the CFTC urging them to maintain strong business conduct standards for derivatives dealers when dealing with municipalities and pension funds.

We applaud Senator Johnson for holding this important hearing. In 2006, the Department of Defense (DoD) issued a “Report on Predatory Lending Practices Directed at Members of the Armed Forces and Their Dependents”, which concluded that “predatory lending undermines military readiness, harms the morale of troops and their families, and adds to the cost of fielding an all volunteer fighting force.” In surveys conducted by DoD last year, personal finances ranked second on the list of causes of stress for servicemembers, second only to career concerns. Financial problems are now the top cause of revocation of military security clearances.

Dr. Mark Cooper, CFA Director of Research, submitted the following statement for the record of the hearing on Excessive Speculation and Compliance with the Dodd-Frank Act, being conducted by the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, along with CFA’s recent report entitled Excessive Speculation and Oil Price Shock Recessions: A Case of Wall Street ‘Déjà vu All Over Again.’

Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY), Ranking Member of the Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit Subcommittee of the House Financial Services Committee, and Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA), Ranking Member of the full House Financial Services Committee, today hailed the first 100 days of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

Read our letter opposing the regulatory accountability act here

AFR authored a letter in support of the Wall Street Trading and Speculators Tax Act of 2011 introduced by Senator Harkin and Representative DeFazio.