Testimony: Renita Marcellin Testifies Before NY State Senate Standing Committee on Banks
AFR’s Advocacy and Legislative Director Renita Marcellin testified before the NY State Senate Standing Committee on Banks.
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Blog: Awaiting the Supreme Court Hearing, the CFPB Continues to Defend Consumers
Despite being in a legal fight for its very existence, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau continues to carry out its mission to promote fairness and transparency in our financial system and ensure that consumers are protected from predatory and deceptive practices. Its ability to perform under pressure is one more reason why we need a strong CFPB.
In The News: Wall Street Braces for Big Changes Over the Next Five Years (Bloomberg)
“Wall Street will face renewed scrutiny from the American public about the privileges it enjoys thanks to a political system that for far too long went along with what the industry wanted, no matter the costs to the rest of us,” said Lisa Donner, executive director of Americans for Financial Reform.
News Release: House Financial Services Committee Should Vote Against Bills That Would Weaken Dodd-Frank and Endanger the Retirements of Public School Teachers
Washington, D.C. – The House Financial Services Committee faces a critical decision as it prepares to vote on a series of bills in tomorrow’s markup. These proposed bills, if passed, would undermine the financial system, families saving for retirement, and everyday investors.
Letters to Congress: Letter Opposing H.R. 3556 “Increasing Financial Regulatory Accountability and Transparency Act”
AFR sent a letter opposing H.R. 3556 “Increasing Financial Regulatory Accountability and Transparency Act,” a bill supposedly to make the Fed more transparent, which will instead hamstring the Financial Stability Oversight Council’s (“FSOC”) ability to effectively monitor risk in the financial system. This bill would subject the FSOC’s designation authority to Congressional review, which would allow any firm the FSOC designates as systemically important to lobby Congress to rescind the FSOC’s designation. This would render the FSOC designation authority under the Dodd-Frank Act futile and unnecessarily politicize the agency’s efforts to monitor companies that pose an outsized risk to our financial system. This bill comes at the heels of the FSOC’s announcement to reinvigorate its designation process, a welcome step in preventing the next financial crisis.
News Release: NEW REPORT: USPS Must Roll Out Basic Financial Services at Post Offices to Reach 10 Million Unbanked Households
Washington, D.C. – A new report released today, “Banking Fair: The Promise and Urgency of Doing Postal Banking Right,” calls for a public banking option to be restored within the U.S. Postal Service. USPS has a long history as a public service institution, despite the seeds of privatization sown by Republican presidents and Congress since 1970.
Letters to Congress: Letter in Opposition to HR 3564
AFR submitted this letter in opposition to H.R. 3564, which would make mortgages more expensive for many middle-class American families. H.R. 3564 would rescind the FHFA’s more equitable mortgage pricing framework and instead require the FHFA to increase fees for many first-time home buyers and those who do not have a 20% down payment.
In the News: A New Vision for a Just Financial System (The Washington Monthly)
“Blaming deposit insurance itself, however much the rescue of SVB depositors sticks in the craw, would be precisely the wrong reaction to this year’s crisis. The true injustice of the moment lies not in extending deposit insurance but in the paucity of obligations that bankers face in return,” AFR’s Communication Director, Carter Dougherty wrote.
News Release: A Wave of Pro-CFPB Amicus Briefs Demonstrate Overwhelming Support for the CFPB’s Constitutionality
Washington, D.C. – Hundreds of public interest groups, lawmakers, constitutional law scholars and more filed amicus briefs with the Supreme Court this week in support of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) in the case, CFPB v. CFSA, which the Supreme Court will review this fall.
Blog: Megabanks Scheme to Undermine New Capital Rules
Instead of having his most talented employees figuring out how to better serve customers or allocate credit to the real economy, Jamie Dimon has his best and brightest scheming how to evade tougher rules on bank capital that regulators are writing to make the financial system safer.