AFR in the News Archives - Page 23 of 60 - Americans for Financial Reform

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.”

AFR in the News: Clinton’s populist theme heartens liberal donors (Washington Post)

“During her debut swing through Iowa this week, the former secretary of state pledged to promote a progressive agenda, stressing that ‘the deck is stacked in favor of those already at the top.’ That language struck a chord with members of [the Democracy Alliance]… [T]he organization is urging donors to contribute to an expanded suite of advocacy groups and think tanks devoted to economic inequality including Americans for Financial Reform, the Economic Policy Institute and the National Employment Law Project.”

AFR in the News: How Warren’s Banking Agenda Could Influence Clinton (American Banker)

“Marcus Stanley, policy director at Americans for Financial Reform, said Warren’s speech lays ‘down the gauntlet for people in terms of taking specific, strong steps — including steps that go beyond Dodd-Frank — to reform Wall Street. That’s very meaningful in terms of the challenge it puts to people to say whether they’re in favor of that or not,’ he said.”

AFR in the News: General Electric Hands Dodd-Frank Its Biggest Victory Yet (Huffington Post)

“‘I see this as a win not just for too-big-to-fail, but for the extension of the regulatory perimeter in Dodd-Frank,” said Marcus Stanley, policy director at Americans for Financial Reform. “You basically had one of the largest consumer and investment banks in the country stapled onto a major industrial corporation, and because it was part of this conglomerate, it wasn’t being regulated like a major bank. When the Fed changed that regime, GE decided it wouldn’t be as profitable.'”

AFR in the News: Jon Stewart Interviews Senator Elizabeth Warren

“We got organized… We started getting groups like – God bless ‘em – AARP, Consumer Union, the AFL-CIO, the NAACP, LaRaza… More than a hundred groups got organized into Americans for Financial Reform. They pushed, and we got that consumer agency passed into law.” – Senator Elizabeth Warren, describing the struggle to establish the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.