Americans for Financial Reform is a nonpartisan, nonprofit coalition working to lay the foundation for a strong, stable, and ethical financial system.

Blog: FIRM Act – Why It Should Worry You, And The “Debanking” Distraction

Recently, some of the most politically influential industries — fossil fuels, firearms, private prisons, crypto —  have been crying foul about so-called debanking, accusing banks of unjustly denying them financial services because of supposed political biases. This is part of a larger misinformation campaign that is hijacking civil rights language to frame powerful industries as victims of discrimination and achieve their deregulatory goals.

CFPB

Blog: CFPB Abandons Consumers to Abuses of Buy-Now-Pay-Later Loans

Last week, the Trump CFPB announced plans to stop enforcing its previously issued Buy-Now-Pay-Later (BNPL) interpretive rule, which improves the price transparency of these loans to help people understand the real costs, fees, and charges that can accrue. This step risks amplifying the harms of BNPL loans, which include lower credit scores, lost bank accounts, and predatory fees. And it represents yet another example of the Trump CFPB actively siding with predatory lenders.

CFPB 2

Statement: AFR Statement on Trump Signing Anti-Consumer, Anti-Oversight Bills

Today, President Trump signed two laws that overturned commonsense consumer protections from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), one capping overdraft fees and one supervising digital payment apps. Trump’s presidential signature paves the way for banks to harvest billions of dollars in fees and eliminates privacy and account protections for millions of digital payment app users.

News Release: Senate Rejects Fast Tracking of Stablecoin Legislation

The Senate thankfully blocked plans to fast-track legislation that would have emboldened the crypto conflicts of interest crisis that are emanating from the White House. This toothless legislation posed real risks for consumers and the financial system, but a vote to advance this legislation would have rewarded the President for enriching himself and his family through a crypto business empire.

In the News: Elon Musk and His DOGE Bro Have Cashed In on Americans’ Retirement Savings

“Public pension funds are one of the biggest sources of capital for private equity firms,” says Oscar Valdés Viera, who analyzes private equity at Americans for Financial Reform. “Workers indirectly fund private equity’s predatory practices through their pension funds. The private equity billionaires benefit from tax loopholes and giveaways that the rest of us do not get,” he says, pointing out the carried interest tax deduction, which allows private equity managers to get much of their income taxed at the lower long-term capital gains tax rate than the ordinary income tax rate.

News Release: Senate Votes for More Too-Big-To-Fail Megabanks

The Senate overturned a tiny but critical regulatory change by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency that eliminated two relics from over 25 years ago: the automatic approval of bank mergers and the expedited review of bank merger applications. These deeply flawed 1996 regulations rubber-stamped bank mergers and ushered in a merger wave that massively consolidated the banking industry, created too-big-to-fail megabanks, and contributed to the 2008 financial crisis.

Cryptocurrency

Blog: Trump Crypto Ventures Should Stall Senate Consideration of Stablecoin Bill

The Senate is moving toward legislation to embed cryptocurrency tokens known as stablecoins into the fabric of the financial system at the very same time that a prominent person – no less than President Trump – is plumbing the depths of corruption and conflicts of interest. The beginning of the solution to the problem of crypto scams and corruption involves stopping this legislation – not fast-tracking it to enactment.