AFR in the News Archives - Page 5 of 57 - Americans for Financial Reform

AFR in the News: Private Equity Cashes In On Payday Lending

“[I]t is a telling sign of just how dysfunctional the American economy has become that some of the nation’s biggest private equity firms are now heavily invested in the payday loan business and its slightly more respectable cousin, subprime installment lending. A new report from Americans for Financial Reform and the Private Equity Stakeholder Project details dozens of such arrangements involving some of the biggest names on Wall Street and the scuzziest operations on Main Street.”

AFR in the News: Wall Street Wants to Kill the Agency Protecting Americans From Financial Scam (Intercept)

“[Director Cordray’s] departure will be ‘a huge loss,’ said Lisa Donner, executive director of Americans for Financial Reform. If Trump appoints a new director who is indifferent, or even hostile, to consumer issues, she said, ‘It will be incredibly costly to the American public.’”

AFR in the News: Scary thought: Trump now gets to pick the country’s top consumer watchdog (LA Times)

“Trump and Republican lawmakers have long characterized Cordray as an enemy of the people — a bureaucrat run amok, imposing his autocratic will on gentle, kindhearted businesses that only want to compete freely and fairly for people’s patronage… ‘And people who don’t understand what the bureau does might believe that,’ said Lisa Donner, executive director of Americans for Financial Reform. ‘But if you describe the bureau’s work to people… they overwhelmingly support it.'”

AFR in the News: After Virginia Sweep, Democrats Join Republicans for More Bank Deregulation (The Intercept)

“[T]he Senate cabal has masked their handout by claiming to focus on relief for small community banks… [But] the proposal ‘includes over a dozen measures that would ease rules on banks, and a few minor changes for consumers that ought to be a given,’ said Marcus Stanley, policy director at Americans for Financial Reform, the main pro-regulatory advocacy group in D.C.”

AFR in the News: Lawmakers Just Made It Nearly Impossible to Sue Companies Like Equifax and Wells Fargo (Money Magazine)

“‘This vote marks a truly shameful moment in Congress,’ [AFR’s] Amanda Werner, who plays the Monopoly Man, said in a statement. ‘Just weeks after holding hearings on scandals of historic proportion, the Senate granted Equifax and Wells Fargo a Get Out of Jail Free card. Rather than pass meaningful legislation to help the 145 million Americans harmed by the data breach, a slim Republican majority chose to take away our only chance at holding financial giants accountable.’”

AFR in the News: Despite feud, Flake and Corker join Trump to upend a major consumer protection (Intercept)

“The {Wells Fargo and Equifax) scandals put a human face on the practice of companies forcing customer disputes through a secret, non-judicial process… Americans for Financial Reform addressed this directly in a video featuring a woman with disabilities and a veteran, who were ripped off by Wells Fargo and then prevented from a day in court because of an arbitration clause. To pursue such cases, which typically involve small amounts of money, through arbitration, victims need to spend heavily on legal representation and hearings. As federal Judge Richard Posner of the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals once wrote in a ruling, ‘The realistic alternative to a class action is not 17 million individual suits, but zero individual suits, as only a lunatic or a fanatic sues for $30.’”

AFR in the News: Ohio Must Reform Payday Lending (Canton Record-Courier)

“Oversight of payday loans is particularly lax in Ohio… State voters approved reforms in 2008, but the industry found ways around the restrictions on interest rates and other measures designed to protect borrowers… ‘Payday and car title lenders profit from repeatedly dragging hard-pressed people deeper and deeper into debt, and taking advantage of families when they are financially vulnerable,’ Lisa Donner, with Americans for Financial Reform, told the Associated Press. ‘Curbing the ability to push loans that borrowers clearly cannot repay is a key protection.'”

AFR in the News: Trump administration calls for rollback of financial regulations (Washington Post)

“Marcus Stanley, policy director for Americans for Financial Reform, expressed concern about the report’s guidance. ‘The recommendations are “almost uniformly deregulatory.’ he said. ‘It is written pretty technically, but what they are saying is that a lot of things that were done after the crisis to try increase our safety margins and improve our risk control on derivatives they want to cut back on.’”

AFR in the News: Consumer Watchdog Cracks Down on Payday Lenders, Bucking Trump (Bloomberg)

“Consumer advocates say tougher rules are needed because lenders often prey on desperate borrowers who are living paycheck to paycheck by trapping them in debt. ‘Payday and car title lenders profit from repeatedly dragging hard-pressed people deeper and deeper into debt, and taking advantage of families when they are financially vulnerable,’ Lisa Donner, the Americans for Financial Reform’s executive director, said in a statement. ‘Curbing the ability to push loans that borrowers clearly cannot repay is a key protection.’”

AFR in the News: Federal regulator clamps down on payday lending industry (Chicago Tribune)

“A federal regulator announced new restrictions Thursday on the payday lending industry, a move that is likely to face resistance in Congress. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s finalized rules largely reflect what the agency proposed last year. They are the first nationwide regulation of the industry, which had largely been left to the states.”