AFR in the News Archives - Page 5 of 58 - Americans for Financial Reform

AFR in the News: Senate Votes to Ease Restrictions on Auto Lending Discrimination (NY Times)

“‘“By voting to roll back the CFPB’s work, senators have emboldened banks and finance companies to engage in racial discrimination by charging millions of people of color more for a car loan than is justified,’ said Rion Dennis of Americans for Financial Reform, an advocacy group. ‘Lawmakers have also opened the door to challenging longstanding agency actions that are crucial to protecting workers, consumers, civil rights, the environment and the economy.’”

AFR in the News: Consumer watchdog becomes alphabet soup of controversy (Washington Post)

Swapping “Bureau” from back to front is not a simple word shuffle, said Lisa Donner, executive director for the advocacy group Americans for Financial Reform. “Doing that signals you want to take the emphasis away from serving consumers — which unfortunately is what Mulvaney’s been doing in many ways — and put it on ‘this is a bureaucracy’,'” Donner said.

AFR in the News: Mulvaney’s Pay-to-Play an “undermining of democracy” (St. Louis Post-Dispatch)

Americans for Financial Reform reported that the financial sector spent $2 billion on political activity in the 2016 election cycle, including $1.1 billion in campaign donations and the rest for lobbying. That’s $3.7 million for every member of Congress.

AFR in the News: During tenure working for banks, Tim Pawlenty thrilled Wall Street, angered consumer advocates (Minneapolis Star-Tribune)

“Across party and regional lines, most people think Wall Street has too much influence in Washington. And they think that because it does,” said Lisa Donner, executive director of Americans for Financial Reform, a consortium of labor unions, consumer groups, liberal think tanks and organizations like AARP.

AFR in the News: Congress rides to the rescue of thriving bankers (Politico)

“I don’t see the real-world problem [the bill] is trying to solve, except the problem of bankers’ not making enough money,” said Marcus Stanley, policy director at Americans for Financial Reform… [Stanley] said competition alone shouldn’t be the goal. “If we didn’t require airlines to do anything before opening up a new air route, there might be more airlines, but there might be more plane crashes too.”

AFR in the News: Bank earnings are soaring, but congress wants to gut post-crisis safeguards (Intercept)

“[The consumer provisions in the bill] are ‘tokens,’ said Americans for Financial Reform, a Washington, D.C.-based advocacy group pushing for greater financial reform, tacked on to provide cover to a bill that is mainly about financial sector ‘giveaways.'”

AFR in the News: More problems at Wells Fargo: Feds probing sales practice concerns in new area (Charlotte Observer)

“Lisa Donner, executive director of Americans for Financial Reform, used Thursday’s disclosures to argue against Trump administration efforts to roll back financial regulations: ‘Mounting evidence of just how pervasively and systematically Wells Fargo has abused consumers is a powerful argument for more robust regulation and enforcement to hold big banks accountable.’”

AFR in the News: Is it time to roll back US bank regulation? (Financial Times)

“The financial services industry pumped a record $2bn of campaign contributions into the political system in the two years leading up to the 2016 elections. And the flood of cash has continued, with a particular focus on senators whose votes will be decisive. The influence that money buys is creating a massive shift away from the moderate reforms made in and around Dodd-Frank, which were making the system safer and helping consumers and investors keep billions of dollars each year that an already profitable industry would otherwise siphon off.”

AFR in the News: Rule letting U.S. dismantle giant banks in crisis should stay, Treasury Department advises (LA Times)

“Marcus Stanley, policy director for Americans for Financial Reform, said he was glad to see the authority embraced in the report, but alarmed by specifics of the bankruptcy recommendations that he said ‘would create special privileges for big banks, rely on unrealistic assumptions, and in their current form would likely increase risks to the financial system.'”

AFR in the News: Trump-appointed CFPB head eases up on Equifax probe (New York Post)

“This isn’t the first drastic turnaround for the CFPB under Mulvaney. Last month, the agency canned rules that made it harder for payday lenders to make high-interest loans — and automatically pull funds — from borrowers. ‘Mick Mulvaney wants to let Equifax off the hook for its reckless abuse and negligence that may have a lasting impact on millions of Americans,’ [said] Lisa Donner, executive director of Americans for Financial Reform.”