We stand in solidarity with the families of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and the millions of Black people subject to racial oppression, violence, and murder at the hands of the police and of white supremacists.
Today, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) proposed a rule to shield consumers from unscrupulous data brokers that sell sensitive personal and financial information, a vital step in both protecting online privacy and limiting fraud.
Americans for Financial Reform and Public Citizen along with 50 organizations that advocate for racial, social, economic, and climate justice, wrote to urge Senate Majority Leader Schumer to confirm pending nominees for financial regulators and independent agencies like the National Labor Relations Board.
We are now full-on into the mad rush of the busiest shopping season of the year and retail sales are expected to reach a record breaking $75 billion just from Black Friday through Cyber Monday. But can we really afford all of these purchases? Or are we being lured into an endless credit card debt trap that will take the rest of the year — or longer — to pay off the interest and fees and charges?
Americans for Financial Reform has launched a tracker tallying the late fees that have been collected since 5th Circuit Court of Appeals stopped the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s limit on credit card late fees from taking effect.
Signs are mounting that the second Trump administration will try, like the first iteration, to undermine the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s mission and capacity to safeguard the rights and wallets of families throughout the United States.
A cap on junk fees could have saved consumers billions. Now, opposition from big Wall Street banks is costing consumers $317 each and every second.
Today, Americans for Financial Reform is launching the Wall Street Ripoff Counter that tallies the money consumers have lost since big banks managed to block a new consumer protection limiting credit card late fees in court.
This week, a chapter closed on one of the more outlandish crypto crimes we’ve seen (which is saying a lot for crypto): a couple of internet influencers pulled off a massive crypto heist that fueled their lavish lifestyle, leading to the Department of Justice’s largest asset seizure in history.
“If you mean to stick up for the little guy, and not stick it to the little guy, you don’t pick nominees from industry for agencies that should be protecting the public interest,” said Patrick Woodall, managing director for policy at Americans for Financial Reform.
The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) finalized two proposals that would bring much-needed transparency to the audit industry to the benefit of investors and the broader public, for example, by requiring disclosure of partner and manager involvement, workload, and other details of individual audit engagements and firm-wide metrics.
“Almost all of the money that was spent in the elections came from a handful of wealthy donors from Silicon Valley,” said [Mark] Hays, [senior policy analyst] with American for Financial Reform. “They did not come from rank-and-file voters.”
