Americans for Financial Reform

AFR in the News: Financial watchdog director moves closer to approval — or a brick wall

Connie Prater (Creditcards.com)
October 6, 2011

Lisa Donner, executive director of Americans for Financial Reform challenged Republican senators to ‘stand up for families’ and confirm the nomination. ‘Will you implement the law and make sure the CFPB can do its job helping people defend themselves from loan sharks big and small?’ Donner asked. ‘Or will you block consumer protection and instead protect wrongdoing by companies that caused the financial crisis?’

This Week in Wall Street Reform

Click here to view this week’s highlights and lowlights in Wall Street Reform – October 1, 2011 – October 7, 2011.

AFR Statement: Cordray Nomination Markup in Senate Banking Committee

“American families want and need someone to level the playing field and prevent tricks and traps in the financial services market”, said Lisa Donner, Executive Director of Americans for Financial Reform. “We call on all Senators to stand up for families and confirm Richard Cordray as CFPB director.

AFR Advisory: CFPB Conference Call Briefing

Washington, DC – Americans for Financial Reform will host a conference call with reporters and bloggers on Wednesday, October 5th at 2:00 PM EDT to discuss the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and the importance of getting a Director in place so consumers are protected

AFR Memo on Servicemembers, the Military Lending Act, and the CFPB

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 was an important step. But MLA rules are narrowly focused,

AFR in The News – The Push to Pull the Teeth out of Dodd-Frank

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

‘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

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

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

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.