AFR in the News Archives - Page 20 of 58 - Americans for Financial Reform

AFR in the News: Dodd-Frank is Not Perfect but a Boon for Consumers and Economy (Philadelphia Inquirer & other papers)

“The financial system that pushed the U.S. economy to the edge of collapse in 2008 was a doubly rigged game. It was set up to inflate the profits of banks and insiders twice over—first through products designed to bilk consumers and investors, and second through massive speculation, with taxpayers ultimately paying for the bets that went bad. It was a dishonest system and a dangerous one, and while Dodd-Frank was not a complete fix for either problem, it has made progress on both.”

AFR in the News: Elizabeth Warren says passing Dodd-Frank was like David beating Goliath (Business Insider)

“Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) spoke about the Dodd-Frank financial reform act in an interview with Americans for Financial Reform, an advocacy group. ‘David can beat Goliath – that’s the meaning of Dodd-Frank,’ said the senator, who was a founding member of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, established under the act. ‘We built Dodd-Frank with the biggest, most powerful institutions fighting us every inch of the way.'”

AFR in the News: Democrats Are Fed Up with the SEC’s Weak Financial Crimefighting (New Republic)

“The lead agency for investor protection isn’t a natural target for the party’s liberal wing… But half of all Americans own some form of stock… More important, the securities industry has insinuated itself into more of American life. Individuals and small business increasingly get loans through the capital markets; our 401(k) plans are based on publicly traded investments… ‘We marketized our retirement system, we marketized our banking system, and the SEC is the main securities regulator,’ said Marcus Stanley, policy director for the coalition Americans for Financial Reform.”

AFR in the News: 5 questions for Hillary Clinton on Wall Street (CNN)

“‘A candidate could both support legislative change and tie commitments to that to how they’re thinking about appointments,’ said Lisa Donner, executive director of Americans for Financial Reform. Donner added that it’s also important what kind of economic advisers candidates surround themselves with.”

AFR in the News: Education Dept. Readies Debt-Forgiveness Plan for Ex-Corinthian Students (Chronicle of Higher Ed)

“‘These students were playing by the rules, sacrificing to get an education and improve their own and their families’ lives,” said Lisa Donner, executive director of Americans for Financial Reform, a coalition of groups formed in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis. “They should not be buried in debt for a scam that the Department of Education allowed to continue, even once fraud and abuse were clear.”

AFR in the News: Dodd-Frank Rollback Bill Advances in Senate (ThinkAdvisor)

“Americans for Financial Reform stated that the bill is ‘fundamentally misconceived: while its proponents claim to be focused on the needs of small community banks, the substance of the bill reads more like a deregulatory wish list for big banks and other large financial players.’ AFR stated that a ‘disturbing number of lawmakers are once again willing to act as shills for Wall Street and its discredited deregulatory agenda,’ adding that it’s ‘unlikely that this dangerous bill or anything like it will become law.’”

AFR in the News: Canada Just Threw a Grenade Into Elizabeth Warren’s Trade Fight With Obama (Huffington Post)

“‘The administration can say whatever it wants about its interpretation of these trade agreements,’ said Marcus Stanley, policy director at Americans for Financial Reform, a Wall Street watchdog group. ‘The problem is, under the terms of these agreements, they are not going to be interpreting them. Private tribunals of trade lawyers are going to be interpreting them, and there are going to be plenty of openings, as this shows, to make claims that critical prudential regulations conflict with trade agreements. And eventually one of those is going to win out.'”

AFR in the News: Dodd-Frank Supporters Argue Safer Financial System Justifies Cost of Regulation (Wall St. Journal)

“The {American Action Forum] paper doesn’t argue that [the] costs outweigh the benefits. But it doesn’t attempt to quantify any of those benefits, either. That’s a significant flaw, according to Americans for Financial Reform… ‘Extensive economic research shows that the benefits of greater financial sector stability alone will exceed the costs claimed by the AAF,’ the group argued.”

AFR in the News: SEC Nods to Industry on CEO Pay, Overseas Swaps (Bloomberg)

Marcus Stanley, policy director for Americans for Financial Reform… questioned the SEC’s proposal [for a derivatives exemption]. “We have lots of doubts and questions here about the direction they’re going,” Stanley said. “If they’re going to permit foreign subsidiaries of U.S. banks to sidestep the clearing and exchange trading requirements even for transactions conducted in the U.S., that’s a problem.”

AFR in the News: ‘Flash crash” charges spark alarm over regulation of US markets (Financial Times)

“Marcus Stanley of Americans for Financial Reform… said Mr Sarao’s arrest highlighted the weakness of regulation and fragmented markets. ‘If your kid is playing around in your house and the floor collapses, is the problem that the kid was jumping up and down or that your house was built badly? You should have a structure that should withstand this kind of thing,’ he said.”