Category Archives: AFR in the News

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AFR in the News: The Fed Was Supposed to Rein in Its Bailout Powers. Instead It Did This.

“The 2010 Dodd-Frank financial reform law required the Fed to restrict its emergency lending powers so that too-big-to-fail banks don’t expect the central bank to dole out easy money again in the event of another financial crisis,” writes Erika Eichelberger of Mother Jones. Three years later, the Fed has come out with a draft rule that “misses the mark,” interpreting “the statute in ways that minimize limits on emergency lending authority.”

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AFR in the News: CFTC Underfunding Is “a Backdoor Attack on Derivatives Regulation.”

While the Administration wants to increase the CFTC’s budget, its $280 million request for FY 2015 is $35 million less than last year’s proposal, The American Banker points out. “We have the mandate, but not the money, to do the job,” Commissioner Bart Chilton said in a press release. Americans for Financial Reform, the story adds, has described underfunding of the CFTC as “a backdoor attack on derivatives regulation.”

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AFR in the News: Massad Pledges Support for CFTC Commodity Speculation Curbs

Timothy Massad, nominated to lead the CFTC, “has drawn skepticism from [public] interest groups about his views on regulation,” according to Bloomberg, which cites Marcus Stanley, policy director for Americans for Financial Reform. “He’s really something of a blank,” Stanley said. “He doesn’t have a policy or substantive record at least in the areas regulated by the CFTC.”

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AFR in the News: “DC Quadrakill”

“First, if you don’t like a bill, amendment or provision thereof, you try to defeat it with a vote. Just say, then vote, no (or nay, or whatever). If that fails, go to stage two. You can try to defund it through the appropriations process. If that doesn’t work, there is stage three. This is where you can try to stop it, change it or delay it through the regulatory rule-making process. If all of those things fail, you can go to DEFCON four: litigation. That’s the D.C. Quadrakill: 1. kill bill; 2. defund it; 3. regulate it; and, 4. litigate it.”

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AFR in the News: Budget Deal Puts Squeeze On Financial Regulators

“Lisa Donner, head of Americans for Financial Reform, contends the CFTC budget was slashed at the behest of Wall Street lobbyists seeking to undercut the effectiveness of financial reform. The budget savings are so miniscule that ‘it’s not plausible that the real issue is budget numbers,’ she says.”

Forward March: A Better-than-Expected Year in the Fight for Financial Reform

“Though small compared to Wall Street and the right, groups like Americans for Financial Reform and Better Markets show up extensively in the comments on the Volcker Rule. In the final rule, there are hundreds of references to the detailed comment letter the Occupy the SEC group sent…” The work of these outside groups “is a major piece of what makes solid final rules happen.”

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AFR in the News: How Filibuster Reform Could Help Obama Crack Down on Banks

“We’ve seen that court challenges are a major element of the [financial] industry’s plan to block strong regulations,” says Marcus Stanley, the policy director of the nonprofit Americans for Financial Reform. “So having a better ideological balance on the court should be very helpful to financial reform.”

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AFR in the News: Easier Road Seen For Obama Regs

Vacancies now “should be easier to fill with people who meet the basic criteria of having a commitment to fulfilling the law,” said Lisa Donner, executive director of Americans for Financial Reform… The change in the Senate’s rules come at a time when judges are expected to decide major disputes over provisions in the Dodd-Frank financial reform law, ObamaCare and the president’s push on climate change, several observers of the court said.”

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AFR in the News: Obama Nominates Senior Treasury Official to Lead CFTC

“The CFTC is at an important crossroads,” the Washington Post observes. “The 2010 Dodd-Frank Act directed the agency, with 674 employees and a $194 million budget, to oversee a $400 trillion piece of the unregulated derivatives market, a key contributor to the financial crisis. The CFTC has almost finished writing the rules mandated by the law and must now get Wall Street to comply.”