All posts by AFR

News Release: Sycamore Takeover of Walgreens Sets Stage for Job Losses and Drugstore Closures

The Sycamore Partners $10 billion purchase of drugstore chain Walgreens risks disaster for workers and customers, given this private equity firm’s track record. The private equity  takeover of retailers has enriched the Wall Street by extracting dividends, stripping out real estate, and charging astronomical fees that has driven many chains into bankruptcy, shuttered thousands of locations, cost hundreds of thousands of jobs, and left consumers worse off than before.

In The News: Trump Administration Moves to Shut Down Important Consumer Watchdog Agency (Consumers’ Checkbook)

Christine Chen Zinner at the nonprofit Americans for Financial Reform told Checkbook: “Consumers are voters, too.” She encourages “everyday people” to talk to their members of Congress to “elevate this agency into the public consciousness” so that it becomes “a political liability for any member of Congress who thinks it’s okay to continue dismantling the CFPB.”

Letters to Congress: AFR and 17 Allies Urge Senators to Oppose Bill Pulte’s Nomination to Serve as FHFA Director

Americans for Financial Reform along with 17 housing, consumer, civil rights, and labor organizations sent a letter urging the Senate Banking Committee to oppose the nomination of Bill Pulte to serve as Director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA). Mr. Pulte’s residential rental real estate investments and private equity background make him uniquely unsuited to lead the FHFA.

Letters to Congress: AFR and 23 Allies Urge Senators to Oppose Jonathan McKernan’s Nomination to Serve as CFPB Director

Americans for Financial Reform along with 23 consumer, civil rights, community, labor, faith-based, small business, farm, and other organizations sent a letter urging the Senate Banking Committee to oppose the nomination of Jonathan McKernan to serve as Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). The CFPB’s Director should preserve the Bureau’s integrity, capacity, and independence and stand up against capricious and unlawful efforts to defund, dismantle, or diminish the agency. Jonathan McKernan fails to meet these standards.

Blog: Trump CFPB Drops Case against Zelle, Siding with Banks Over Defrauded Users

The Trump-appointed CFPB leadership dropped its case against digital payment app Zelle, a joint venture between Wells Fargo, JPMorgan Chase, and Bank of America,  delivering a de facto pardon to the company for failing to protect its users from fraud and identity theft that cost customers more than $870 million over seven years. The move comes only a day before the Republican Senate is expected to vote on legislation to permanently weaken oversight of digital payment apps.