“‘We’re disappointed that the department is replacing the current state law standard with a federal standard that won’t be as comprehensive for borrowers that live in states with strong consumer protection laws,’ said Alexis Goldstein, senior policy analyst at the progressive Americans for Financial Reform.”
“The group, Take On Wall Street, plans to combine the efforts of some of the Democratic Party’s biggest traditional backers, from the American Federation of Teachers and the AFL-CIO to the Communications Workers of America. The group says it will aim to turn the public’s lingering anger at the financial sector into policy initiatives that could change the way that Wall Street works.”
“The banks are larger now than they were before the bailouts, and the stench of corruption persists. As Lisa Donner, executive director of Americans for Financial Reform, put it, ‘The tone of the election as reminded many people just how deeply felt the frustration and anger is about the way that Wall Street has shaped the economy in its own interest.’”
“Google announced Wednesday that it would ban advertisements for payday loans and related products on its website, saying that they often lead to unaffordable repayment terms and financial harm to consumers… Lisa Donner, the executive director of Americans for Financial Reform, said in a statement that Google’s new standards would stop abusive lenders from marketing what she described as ‘debt-trap products that do serious and lasting harm to consumers.’”
“The dispute over the CFPB is the latest attempt by business interests to limit the scope of Dodd-Frank. Backed by Wall Street and corporate lobbyists, Republicans in Congress have tried to roll back various provisions of the law. That effort has so far failed, and now the courts have become an alternative venue for the campaign. ‘The financial industry is using all the tools available to resist the regulation mandated under Dodd-Frank,’ says Brian Marshall, policy counsel at Americans for Financial Reform…”
“Financialization has been the elephant in the room of economic policy debate — a huge contributing factor to the skyrocketing incomes of a few and the nonliving wages of many, and a force that helps explain our neglected infrastructure, underfunded schools, outlandishly expensive colleges and the phenomenon of graduates impoverished by the high-interest loans that banks thrive on these days.”
““This is pretty clearly an improvement of the 2011 rule, but the 2011 rule was very weak,” said Marcus Stanley, the policy director at the advocacy organization Americans for Financial Reform. Mr. Stanley said he had hoped that banks would have to hold back pay for more than four years because big losses on bank investments can often take longer than that to materialize.”
“[Banks] are turning to the 79th page of a 2013 document titled “Regulatory Capital Rules” and looking at footnote 151. That reference effectively lets banks hold less capital against shorter-term derivatives… ‘This is classic regulatory arbitrage,’ said Marcus Stanley, policy director for public-interest group Americans for Financial Reform.”
“Brian Marshall, policy counsel for Americans for Financial Reform… contends that if PHH’s concern is really that the president lacks sufficient authority over a federal agency, a multi-member structure should be even more problematic. ‘To get control of the Federal Trade Commission, a president would have to remove three commissioners — and that is virtually impossible,’ he said.”
“The [Metlife] decision is ‘really potentially damaging to the framework Dodd Frank set up to oversee nonfinancial institutions,’ said Marcus Stanley, policy director for Americans for Financial Reform. If the ruling is upheld, ‘FSOC would have a very hard time designating anybody in the future, even when they truly do pose risk to the financial system…'”