AFR in the News Archives - Page 25 of 58 - Americans for Financial Reform

AFR in the News: Ignore the Naysayers – Dodd-Frank Reforms Are Finally Paying Off

“This past year has seen significant advances on key issues of financial reform,” Mike Konczal writes in The New Republic, and “the issues where regulators are reluctant to take strong action are becoming increasingly apparent.” His article goes on to quote AFR Policy Director Marcus Stanley on the failure to “ban incentive pay that encourages inappropriate risk-taking, impose appropriate limits on the Federal Reserve’s emergency lending powers, bring real accountability to the credit rating agencies, and simplify the structure of global Wall Street mega-banks to ensure that they can be resolved safely.”

AFR in the News: Wall Street Backlash Will Shake up 2016 Election

“Nearly four out of five voters surveyed (78%) said financial rules and enforcement need to be strengthened, and that Wall Street’s bad practices have not changed enough,” writes David Weidner of the Wall Street Journal, citing a new poll conducted by Lake Research for Americans for Financial Reform and the Center for Responsible Lending. “And the furor overrides the political divide we’ve been hearing so much about. The poll found 84% of Dmocrats, 82% of Independents and 74% of Republicans say they are concerned about the influence of Wall Street financial companies on elected officials.”

AFR in the News: Republicans Slam Operation Choke Point; DOJ Official Backs Its Targeted Nature

“Americans for Financial Reform urged members of Congress to allow Operation Choke Point and other oversight of payment fraud to continue. ‘Banks are not always aware that they are being used to facilitate illegal activity,’ their July 15 letter said. ‘But when they choose profits in the face of blatant signs of illegality, they become an appropriate target for enforcement action.’”

AFR in the News: Wall Street Defends Overseas Swap Trading From U.S. Regulation

““We had been warning for years about this loophole in the CFTC’s cross-border guidance,” Marcus Stanley, policy director for American for Financial Reform, told Bloomberg’s Silla Brush. “Now the CFTC seems to be letting it become an exit-ramp from Dodd-Frank.”

AFR in the News: How Obama Can Rein in Wall Street Without Going Through Congress

“Wall Street’s relentless lobbying campaign pressured regulators to dial down some of the reforms, but the overhaul law still has a lot of strength,” Danielle Douglas writes in the July 3rd Washington Post. Her article goes on to quote AFR policy director Marcus Stanley: “The regulators have the statutory authority,” he says. “The question is whether they are going to use that authority.”

AFR in the News: House Passes Bill to Aid Koch Brothers, Deregulate Wall Street

“The bill includes… measures sought by the largest Wall Street banks and the Koch brothers, who control significant financial and energy derivatives operations,” writes Zach Carter of the Huffington Post. “Americans for Financial Reform, the premier policy analysis organization among bank watchdogs, advocated strongly against the bill alongside consumer groups and the AFL-CIO.”

AFR in the News: Liberal Groups Back ‘Operation Choke Point’

In CQ, reporter Ben Weyl quotes from a joint AFR/CFA/NCLC letter to Senators: “Fighting payment fraud should not be controversial. Everyone benefits from efforts to stop illegal activity that relies on the payment system.” As Weyl goes on to note, “Conservative activists and GOP lawmakers have accused the Obama administration of pursuing law-abiding businesses that cross the administration’s agenda, including gun sellers.” But the known investigations launched in the name of Operation Choke Point have all been directed at out-and-out-fraud.

AFR in the News: Massad Heads to U.S. Swaps Agency as Wall Street Seeks Rollback

“There is still ‘great risk of going back even on the commitments that have been made final,’ said Marcus Stanley, policy director at Americans for Financial Reform… ‘In no way is he just a caretaker for a job that’s just been completed by somebody else,” Stanley, referring to Massad, said in an interview. ‘To make derivatives reform a reality means taking on some powerful interests and pushing forward against significant opposition and we hope he’s up to it.’”

AFR in the News: OCC to Rotate On-Site Examiners at Banks to Boost Oversight

“The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, criticized for missing some high-profile problems such as JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s London Whale losses, will institute a five-year rotation schedule for in-bank examiners, the agency said today in response to a review of its practices by non-U.S. regulators. The regulator also said transfers to the risk-analysis group would reduce the number of on-site examiners.”

AFR in the News: Lawmakers’ Push for SEC/DOL Fiduciary Collaboration a ‘Tactic,’ Consumer Groups Say

“It’s absurd to suggest that DOL should step aside to wait and see” if the SEC acts, said Barbara Roper of the CFA. Lisa Donner, executive director of Americans for Financial Reform, added that Congress’ repeated requests for collaboration between the two regulators on their rules “feels like it’s a tactic, and is not grounded in either regulatory or statutory sense.”