FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Doug Gordon, 202-822-5200
DATE: October 9, 2009

Americans for Financial Reform Applauds The President For His Leadership On Financial Reform

Washington, DC – Americans for Financial Reform released the following statement today on the White House meeting on Financial Reform:

Heather Booth, Director, Americans for Financial Reform: Our coalition appreciates the President’s leadership and bold statement today on this critical issue. It is clear that the President is working to protect consumers from the types of abusive financial practices that nearly brought down our economy and we applaud his commitment to creating a Consumer Financial Protection Agency.

Americans for Financial Reform, and our 200 coalition partners, strongly support the creation of an independent Consumer Financial Protection Agency with the sole mission of ensuring Americans having clear, concise and honest information with which to make financial decisions. We support an agency that establishes a federal floor for consumer protection and allows states the ability to respond swiftly to local financial misconduct. The CFPA must include rulemaking, examination and enforcement in any reform measure. The Community Reinvestment Act should be incorporated into the bill to ensure that all consumers have equal access to credit.

The biggest banks and Wall Street cannot be allowed to take our economy to the brink of collapse ever again. The CFPA cannot be beholden to the irresponsible banks that brought us to the edge, nor to the federal regulators who stood by and watched it happen without taking action.
The President’s leadership on the creation of this agency is key for passage. Today’s meeting is yet another sign of his strong and unwavering commitment to this issue. We join with the President encouraging Congress to quickly pass strong financial reform, including a Consumer Financial Protection Agency.

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