Monthly Archives: March 2012

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AFR in the News: Mark Gongloff – Dodd Frank Act Under Assault Again

“H.R. 3283 would let U.S. banks trade derivatives, such as credit default swaps, overseas without having to build up any extra capital to protect against a meltdown in those derivatives. ‘This would create an overwhelming temptation to move swaps business overseas, indeed to the foreign jurisdictions where regulation was most lax compared to the U.S.,’ Americans For Financial Reform, a coalition of labor, consumer and other groups, wrote in a letter to the House today.”

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AFR in the News: House Votes Overwhelmingly to Ease Financial Rules

“Consumer advocates said the two bills could lead to abuses. For example, the bill addressing transactions between related companies refers to swaps between ‘affiliates.’ Marcus Stanley, policy director for Americans for Financial Reform, said he worried that corporate lawyers would try broadening the use of that term to include more and more companies. ‘It’s ridiculous to put this broad exemption into statute,’ Stanley said.”

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AFR Letter: Oppose HR 2779 & HR 2682

AFR sent a letter to the House, urging opposition to HR 2779 and HR 2682, two harmful derivatives bills which are inaccurately being presented as ‘technical amendments’ necessary to correct minor issues in the Dodd-Frank Act.

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AFR in the News: Bank Lobby’s Onslaught Shifts Debate on Volcker Rule

‘The regulators are under a lot of pressure,’ said Marcus Stanley, policy director of Americans for Financial Reform, an advocacy coalition that filed a comment letter urging that the draft rule be strengthened rather than watered down. Stanley, a former congressional aide, said that his side has at most a couple of dozen people working the agencies and Congress. Meantime, he said, hundreds of banking representatives are enlisting their customers by warning that the rule’s fallout will be higher costs and less-liquid markets.’

AFR Press Statement: Senate Passage of JOBS Act

“We are deeply disappointed by the Senate passage of the so called “JOBS Act.” With the country still suffering from hard times and high unemployment in the wake of the financial crisis, it is almost unbelievable that the Senate would rush passage of measures that will undermine transparency and accountability in the capital markets, and expose our families to a new round of fraud and abuse. But that is what they have done.”