The federal authorities should halt all bank merger approvals until they strengthen the outdated guidelines that govern whether financial institutions can combine, according to a letter delivered today by 30 public interest organizations.
AFREF led a letter to regulators stating that the laissez-faire stance adopted by the Department of Justice and the federal bank regulators and current merger guidelines have hurt small businesses, community banks, and households, especially those in BIPOC communities. The letter urges regulators to temporarily halt consideration of pending bank mergers until the DOJ and banking agencies adopt a plan that strengthens the guidelines to protect consumers.
This study estimates that at least $5.3 billion in CARES Act money went to 611 portfolio companies owned or backed by private equity firms that held $908 billion in cash reserves.
AFREF and 6 organizations sent a letter to the Federal Reserve Board expressing support for the development of the FedNow Service, the FRB’s real time payments system, and urging the Fed to build sufficient consumer protections into the system so that consumers and small businesses can safely use the system.
Small business advocacy organizations, representing tens of thousands of affiliated small businesses and the interests of the 30 million small businesses in the country, submitted a letter to Congress expressing strong support for Senate Joint Resolution 15, the Congressional Review Act Resolution to repeal the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency’s True Lender Rule.
A South Carolina tire factory owned by a global corporation received a substantial loan from the Small Business Administration for pandemic relief while many genuinely small businesses — especially those owned by people of color and women — were unable to access the program.
Case study of a South Carolina tire factory owned by a global corporation that received a substantial loan from the Small Business Administration for pandemic relief while many genuinely small businesses were unable to access the program.
Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, AFR with our coalition partner, Main Street Alliance, have been advocating for more rational and equitable small business relief in response to the Coronavirus pandemic. Before the pandemic, AFR promoted the need for new and innovative means to
“It’s been hard for small businesses to get the money they need to survive,” said Linda Jun, senior policy counsel at Americans for Financial Reform, a nonprofit advocacy group, “and now we have the bank regulators, instead of trying to work with their institutions on that, saying, ‘We’re going to throw some more sharks your way.'”
Americans for Financial Reform Education Fund (AFREF) and Main Street Alliance (MSA) respectfully urge the Small Business Administration (SBA) to maintain the information collection under the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) new Loan Necessity Questionnaire for recipients and encourage the SBA to support robust supplemental disclosure requirements for PPP recipients.