AFR in the News Archives - Page 19 of 59 - Americans for Financial Reform

AFR in the News: Coalition of Unions, Consumer Groups Press Regulators on Bank “Living Wills” (Wall St. Journal)

“Tuesday’s letter to the Fed and FDIC from Americans for Financial Reform… is the latest evidence that the agencies could face some backlash if their verdict is favorable to the industry. The coalition includes large unions and public interest groups with powerful pull in Washington… The coalition asks that regulators, if they decline to find banks’ plans not credible, provide the public with a detailed explanation of improvements banks have made in the living wills since the firms failed to pass regulatory muster in 2014.”

AFR in the News: Executive Compensation Is Changing, New Rules or No (American Banker)

“Marcus Stanley, policy director of the public advocacy group Americans for Financial Reform, said that the shift toward taking a long view with executive compensation is anecdotal at best… ‘From our perspective there hasn’t really been a fundamental change,’ Stanley said. ‘What we would want to see is something that moves closer to the old partnership model, where you stay genuinely at risk for a long period of time and where you’re just as sensitive to the downside… as the short-term upside incentives.'”

AFR in the News: Campaign 2016 and Wall Street Reform (C-SPAN)

Marcus Stanley, policy director of Americans for Financial Reform, analyzes the role of Wall Street reform in the 2016 presidential contest. He also discusses President Obama’s remarks about the regulatory reforms adopted since the 2008 financial crisis.

AFR in the News: What Crisis? Big Ratings Firms Stronger Than Ever (Wall St. Journal)

“‘The credit-rating agencies got away so easy, given what they did,’ said Marcus Stanley, policy director at Americans for Financial Reform, a nonpartisan coalition in favor of stronger Wall Street regulation. ‘The happy days are here again. There’s not really been an interruption of the profit flow.'”

AFR in the News: Why Obama says bank reform is a success but Bernie Sanders says it’s a failure (Washington Post)

“‘This is one more reminder that it is crucial that people who lead these agencies are people strongly committed to reform and who will be as aggressive as they need to be despite pressure from the other side to slow down or weaken rules,’ said [AFR executive director Lisa] Donner.”

AFR in the News: Fed Proposes New Rule Capping Business Between Banks (NY Times)

“Banking specialists who favor more stringent Wall Street rules expressed some concerns… ‘A derivatives exposure that looks small in normal times can become enormous in times of financial stress,” said Marcus Stanley, policy director at Americans for Financial Reform. “This rule may not contain adequate protections against that kind of risk.’”

AFR in the News: DNC Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz joins hands with GOP in assault on Elizabeth Warren’s consumer protection agency (Salon)

“”The DNC chair describes Florida’s state law as a “model” for payday loan legislation. The director of the Campaign to Stop the Debt Trap at Americans for Financial Reform says otherwise, calling Florida’s law ‘a sham’ and pointing out that ‘it was backed by the industry.’”

AFR In The News: Moderate Democrats helped Wall Street avoid regulation in the ’90s. They’re doing it again. (Vox)

“There’s also a case to be made for the limits of cost-benefit analysis in general, as it tends to undercount benefits even when used in realms for which it’s better suited. What’s more, empowering OIRA to directly intervene in financial regulations could overwhelm the tiny office. As Americans for Financial Reform notes, OIRA “has only 50 employees, as opposed to tens of thousands of employees at the various [financial] regulatory agencies” and “lacks substantive expertise in financial matters.”

AFR in the News: There’s a newish cop on the beat as Department of Education launches enforcement unit (Washington Post)

“The department must move quickly to discharge the debt of all Corinthian students,” said Alexis Goldstein, senior policy analyst at the progressive Americans for Financial Reform. “Hundreds of thousands of borrowers from Corinthian remain on the hook for federal student loans. … despite the fact that the illegal actions identified in department enforcement actions were endemic throughout the entire chain.”

AFR in the News: More oversight needed to curb abuse, reform hedge-fund industry (Orlando Sentinel)

“Hedge funds were major traffickers in the toxic securities that brought down the financial system eight years ago. Because many of them now market aggressively to pension funds and institutional investors, ordinary retirement savers can lose big when hedge funds fail to generate returns extravagant enough to justify their extravagant charges. More and more of these funds use stealth tactics to build up potent but undetected market positions, enabling them to aggressively bring about the results they’re seeking — results that serve their interests at the consistent expense of workers, communities, and the wider society.”