Regulatory agencies purport to “tailor” prudential rules, but they are severely undermining capital and liquidity requirements for foreign banks operating in the U.S.
Private Equity Giants Converge on Manufactured Homes, a report released this year by three nonprofits—Manufactured Housing Action, the Private Equity Stakeholder Project and Americans for Financial Reform—maps this rapidly changing industry. The report notes, “The top 50 manufactured housing community owners own around 680,000 home sites. With more that 150,000 home sites, private equity firms and institutional investors now control a substantial portion of manufactured home communities.” Some of these firms have familiar names like Blackstone or Carlyle.
The 22 community, housing, civil rights, consumer and other organizations believe that HUD must carefully assess the risks and benefits of the Opportunity Zone investments. The Opportunity Zone program poses substantial risks to lower-income households and households of color that already face rapidly rising housing costs and a declining availability of affordable housing options
Given the unfortunate demise of the Department of Labor (DOL) Fiduciary Rule and the glaring deficiencies in the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC’s) Regulation Best Interest, we greatly appreciate states such as New Jersey that are willing to step in to fill the regulatory void by providing the protections investors need and expect.
Today, Americans for Financial Reform joined a coalition of national consumer and civil rights groups in writing to top banking regulators on the importance of preventing banks from once again issuing payday loans that trap people in a cycle of debt.
Kathleen Kraninger, who has helmed CFPB for a scant four months, is unfortunately already making a name for herself as someone willing to let the bad guys off the hook. She is a protégé of Mick Mulvaney, who spent much of 2018 doing his best to lay waste to the CFPB’s work and structure as its acting director.
Trump-appointed regulators came into office saying they would pare back Wall Street’s postcrisis rulebook. More than two years into the administration’s tenure, most of the work remains unfinished, particularly for the biggest banks.
Teaching students how to manage their money has become mandatory in many K-12 classrooms. But can it substitute for real enforcement of financial fraud?
We commented to the banking regulators criticizing proposed rules on bank ownership of unsecured debt issued by systemically important (G-SIB) banks. This debt is intended to absorb losses in a potential future financial crisis, which may not be feasible if other banks are permitted to own significant amounts of it.
Even within our broad coalition, it is exceedingly rare for so many organizations to come together and to speak with one voice. The tremendous outpouring of opposition to high-cost, short-term loans that put people in a cycle of debt, whether issued by banks or nonbanks, illustrates the importance of this issue to people across the country.