FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

March 14, 2018

CONTACT:
Carter Dougherty, carter@ourfinancialsecurity.org, (202) 251-6700

AFR Condemns Passage of S. 2155

Statement from Lisa Donner, executive director, Americans for Financial Reform:

“A bipartisan majority of senators has chosen to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression by handing big banks and their lobbyists deregulatory gifts, at the cost of increasing the risks to financial stability, and the likelihood of consumer abuse, including racial discrimination, in mortgage lending. This legislation doesn’t serve families or communities, nor is it policy that most Americans support. It puts the interests of financial institutions ahead of the rest of us.”

● A major provision of S. 2155 has always been the elimination of enhanced supervision for banks with assets between $50 and $250 billion, a group of large banks that includes SunTrust, American Express, and Fifth Third.
● The bill also lets 85 percent of U.S. banks out of the full reporting requirements under the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act, a vital tool in fighting racial discrimination in lending.
● It also curbs oversight of the U.S. subsidiaries of major foreign banks like Deutsche Bank and Santander; a last-minute addition to the bill does nothing to change that.
● Other parts of the bill would reduce consumer protections for mortgages, especially for buyers of manufactured housing.
● Another provision would release custodial banks such as BNY Mellon and State Street from important capital requirements. The same provision is likely to also benefit JPMorgan Chase and Citigroup.

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