Unregulated derivatives trading were a major cause of the economic crisis and loss of homes, jobs and retirement savings. Inadequate regulation of derivatives was also a major contributor to last years energy price bubble. The volume of derivatives trading is enormous. According to the International
Host Tom Dziubek spoke with Heather Booth, Executive Director of Americans for Financial Reform. Americans for Financial Reform is a coalition of over two hundred national, state and local consumer, labor, retiree, investor, community and civil rights organizations. Tom and Heather discussed current and future
The Center for Responsible Lending warned consumers this Black Friday to watch out for overdraft loans. Every day, consumers lose $65 in overdraft fees to banks. As CRL explains: At $24 billion per year in fees, unfair overdraft practices transfer funds from the accounts of
The New Republic published this article detailing how Members of Congress have shifted their thinking on derivatives – and for once, the shift benefits Main Street rather than Wall Street. The article cites pressure from Americans for Financial Reform as one of the reasons for
Dana Milbank of the Washington Post published this column today, pointing out how much the nation’s bankers have to be thankful for as they sit down for Thanksgiving turkeys tomorrow. Here’s an excerpt: At this time last year, the American financial system was near collapse,
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Lauren Weiner, 202-470-5870 DATE: November 24, 2009 Washington, DC – Americans for Financial Reform statement on the American Financial Services Association’s attacks on the proposed Consumer Financial Protection Agency: Heather Booth, Director, Americans for Financial Reform: “It is not surprising that
Siegel+Gale put together this PDF which boils down a sample credit card’s terms to one page. While the language is simpler than your average 30-page contract, it’s still not ideal; note that the late fee is still $39, there’s Binding Mandatory Arbitration language, and the
Have you ever waded through pages and pages of credit card contracts in an attempt to figure out what your interest rate will be? Have you overdrawn your account by a few cents, only to get slammed with a disproportionate fee? Would you be upset
According to TIME Magazine, the CFPA is the 19th best invention of 2009. Although it’s not yet reality, and it was conceived well before 2009, at AFR we appreciate the point. Read more here – and cast your vote on TIME’s sliding scale about how
Protesters rallied in front of Chase bank in Indianapolis on Thursday, Nov. 19 to demand the banks stop preying on the public with their excessive fees. JP Morgan Chase is among the biggest of the “too big to fail” financial institutions who were bailed out