AFR in the News Archives - Page 39 of 58 - Americans for Financial Reform

AFR in the News: Industry Opponents Slam Volcker Rule as Volcker Defends It

“The controversial Volcker rule that regulates proprietary trading came in for a final round of comment as frustrated bankers, anti-Wall Street activists and Paul Volcker himself flooded government regulators with last-minute statements before the deadline Monday at midnight. …Backing up Volcker were a number of Democrat senators as well as a coalition group comprising Americans for Financial Reform, Public Citizen, and Occupy the SEC, a sub-group associated with New York’s Occupy Wall Street movement.”

AFR in the News: AFR on Volcker: Not Tough Enough

“Americans for Financial Reform letter on the rule: ‘There are significant positive elements in this proposed rule. But it still falls well short of fully implementing the statute. It is clear from both the legislative history and the text of the statute that in passing the Volcker Rule Congress sought fundamental change in the American financial system by restoring basic firewalls between the banking system and the capital markets.'”

AFR in the News: Corporate Groups Seek SEC Roundtable on Pay Ratio Disclosure

“A coalition of corporate organizations has asked the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to hold a roundtable before proposing rules to implement the CEO-employee pay ratio disclosure mandate of Section 953(b) of the Dodd-Frank Act. …In response, the Americans for Financial Reform (AFR), a group that includes the AFL-CIO and other supporters of Section 953(b), argues that the business coalition’s request for a roundtable is an attempt ‘to stifle the rule, not to enhance the rulemaking process.’”

AFR in the News: Consumer Bureau chief vows cooperation with skeptical Republicans

“Asked to evaluate Cordray’s performance, John Carey, spokesman for the consumer coalition called Americans for Financial Reform, said: ‘There are reasons that Director Cordray received a wide range of support, across the political spectrum, from those that know and worked with him in Ohio. He is fair, tough and thoughtful, and those traits were on full display yesterday.’”

AFR in the News: Public Citizen, Other Groups Call For U.S. To Break Up Bank Of America

“Nearly two dozen professors and groups have joined the effort. Bank of America, the Fed and the Treasury declined to comment on the planned petition. …the letter was distributed on a list-serve for a coalition called Americans for Financial Reform…”

AFR in the News: Gillibrand Enters Volcker Rule Fray

“‘It is specious to the point of misleading to suggest that the needs for liquidity currently provided by banks will not be filled,’ Wallace Turbeville, who represented Americans for Financial Reform, a nonprofit group that favors new restrictions on Wall Street risk-taking, told a Congressional committee this month.”

AFR in the News: U.S. Regulators to Defend Volcker Rule Ban on Proprietary Trades

“Consumer groups and supporters of the rule have leaned on regulators to stick to the implementation timeline and pushed back against assertions that the rule will damage capital markets. The arguments from financial firms ‘are all founded on the irrational assumption that, once bank proprietary trading ceases under the Volcker Rule, others will not expand to meet demand,’ Wallace C. Turbeville, a former Goldman Sachs banker, said in testimony prepared for the hearing on behalf of Americans for Financial Reform, an umbrella organization made up of consumer groups, labor unions and civil rights law firms.”

AFR in the News: Regulators defend 300-page ‘Volcker Rule’ on risky trading

“However, a representative of the group Americans for Financial Reform argued the Volcker Rule is a vital safeguard for the financial system, ensuring that American taxpayers no longer effectively guarantee risky trading done by insured depository institutions.”

AFR in the News: New Laws Possible In Wake of MF Global’s Demise

“Lawmakers are considering new policies aimed at preventing a repeat of the MF Global debacle…the committee’s chairwoman, Senator Debbie Stabenow, sent roughly 20 letters on Wednesday to some of the industry’s biggest players, seeking suggestions for new policies. … She sent letters to consumer advocacy groups, including Americans for Financial Reform…”

AFR in the News: Whistleblower Bill Draws Lobbying

“The bill’s critics, including POGO, the AFL-CIO and Americans for Financial Reform, also wrote a letter to lawmakers warning of its impact on whistleblower protections. The bill, the letter said, ‘is an extreme approach that would silence would-be whistleblowers, endanger critical inside informants, undermine investigations, hamstring enforcement at the SEC and [Commodity Futures Trading Commission], and provide lawbreaking financial firms with an escape hatch from accountability.’”