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AFR Press Statement: President Obama’s Recess Appointment of Richard Cordray
January 4, 2012 – 11:02 am | Comments Off

Consumers won today when President Obama defied Wall Street interests to make a recess appointment of Richard Cordray to head the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. President Obama stood with consumers and families in making this crucial decision.

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AFR Memo on Servicemembers, the Military Lending Act, and the CFPB
October 2, 2011 – 8:17 am

October 1st marked the 4th anniversary of implementation of the Military Lending Act (MLA). Passage of the MLA was a recognition of the serious harm abusive consumer financial products do to our service members. It …

AFR in The News – The Push to Pull the Teeth out of Dodd-Frank
September 30, 2011 – 4:57 pm

The current economic turbulence is a direct result of insufficient regulation — so it makes no sense to curb pending rules that would address the causes of the crisis, says Lisa Donner, executive director of Americans for Financial Reform, a coalition of labor, civil rights, community, and small business groups. “The thought that what we need to get the economy going again is to cut back on regulation is astoundingly backwards,” she says, noting that recent polls suggest businesses are struggling with economic conditions, not overregulation.”

AFR in the News – State is key to deal on mortgages
September 30, 2011 – 4:56 pm

‘The banks want to get away with everything, and she is probably one of the linchpins in saying that is going to happen or isn’t going to happen,’ said Liz Ryan Murray, the chairwoman of the foreclosure task force at Americans for Financial Reform. ‘We would like to see her come forward and be more public on what she will and won’t give up.’”

This Week in Wall Street Reform
September 30, 2011 – 4:50 pm

Click here to view this week’s highlights and lowlights in Wall Street Reform – September 24, 2011 – September 30, 2011.

AFR’s Comment Letter Regarding Stable Value Contracts
September 26, 2011 – 1:20 pm

Read AFR’s comment letter in response to regulators posing the questions of whether stable value contracts meet the definition of swaps in the Dodd-Frank Act, and, if so, whether they should be regulated as swaps or given an exemption. The letter points out that stable value contracts have the characteristics of swaps and also pose some of the same risks as swaps do. It does not take a specific position on whether stable value contracts should be subject to all swaps regulation, but does urge regulators to address these dangers by extending business conduct standards to issuers of stable value contracts and also to ensure that issuers of financial guarantees have sufficient resources to back up their promises.

AFR Comments to SEC on International Derivatives Study
September 26, 2011 – 1:04 pm

Harmonious international financial regulation is best achieved by the timely implementation of Dodd-Frank-mandated regulations for derivatives. Contrary to claims made by Wall Street and its allies, postponing the implementation of Dodd-Frank rules until the global community reaches a consensus on derivatives regulation would undercut efforts to achieve harmonious financial reform and expose American taxpayers to significant economic risk.