AFR in the News Archives - Page 8 of 58 - Americans for Financial Reform

AFR in the News: Quick Cordray Action Could Open Payday Rule to Challenge, says Hensarling (Morning Consult)

“The payday rule is seen as one of the last major Cordray-era regulatory proposals that haven’t been finalized, and consumer advocacy groups and liberal Democrats who support the CFPB have also been supportive of the rule proposal as a key measure to prevent consumers from getting mired in debt. Jose Alcoff, campaign organizer at Americans for Financial Reform, defended the bureau’s approach to the payday loans issue. ‘It’s been 29 months since the proposal was first outlined, and 15 since it was formally put to the public… We do need a rule soon to curb these abuses.’”

AFR in the News: Wells Fargo’s Testimony Left Some Feeling Shortchanged (NY Times)

“This lapse calls for new congressional hearings on Wells Fargo, according to 33 consumer groups. Led by Americans for Financial Reform and Public Citizen, two left-leaning consumer organizations, the groups sent a letter late Thursday to leadership of the Senate Banking Committee and the House Financial Services Committee urging them to bring Wells Fargo executives back to Capitol Hill to answer questions about the bank’s stream of abuses.”

AFR in the News: Dodd-Frank is still here but banks have reasons to cheer Trump (Financial Times)

“Americans for Financial Reform… noted that the [Treasury] report followed recommendations from The Clearing House, a powerful trade association, in 31 out of 40 specific cases. In some instances, the language of the government and the language of the lobbyists was hard
to tell apart… ‘We’ve reached a point in this administration when big banks and private-equity funds have placed so many people in the top jobs, they hardly need to worry about lobbyists and trade associations any more,’ says Jim Lardner, a senior fellow at AFR”.

AFR in the News: Wells Fargo Scandal Helps Consumer Advocates in CFPB Rule Fight (Bloomberg BNA)

“Consumer groups are invoking Wells Fargo as they seek to persuade a handful of Republican senators to help defeat a potential September vote on a resolution blocking the arbitration rule. ‘We’ve definitely pointed to Wells Fargo as pretty much the poster child for why we need this rule,’ Amanda Werner, campaign manager at consumer groups Americans for Financial Reform and Public Citizen, told Bloomberg BNA.”

AFR in the News: The Great Escape: How Credit Raters Ducked Reform (Bloomberg)

“The issuer-pays model remains an incentive for raters to go easy on clients, says Marcus Stanley, policy director at Americans for Financial Reform… ‘As long as ratings agencies are both central to securities markets and face incentives to inflate ratings and mislead investors, they pose a risk to the financial system…'”

AFR in the News: New U.S. rule on class actions survives first challenge (Reuters)

“A new U.S. rule aimed at restoring consumers’ ability to band together to sue financial companies has survived its first challenge, as a top banking regulator on Monday said he would not petition for it to be suspended… ‘The rule is a well thought-out response to the serious consumer harm of forced arbitration,’ said Brian Marshall, policy counsel for advocacy group Americans for Financial Reform.”

TOWS in the News: Progressives revive attacks on Wall Street in health care’s wake (Washington Post)

“[A]s the seventh anniversary of the Dodd-Frank Act approaches Friday, a coalition of progressive groups is pushing the party to get back on offense. The groups… organized under the banner of ‘Take on Wall Street’ — aim to crank up grassroots heat on elected Democrats. They want party leaders, though deep in the minority, to revive some of the get-tough measures they campaigned on last year, when they expected to win at least the White House.”

AFR In the News: Regulator Moves Against Mandatory Arbitration Agreements (Minneapolis Star-Tribune)

“Since most consumers cannot afford to take on a big corporation on their own, banks like Wells Fargo get away with ripping off large numbers of customers,” Amanda Werner, arbitration campaign manager with Americans for Financial Reform and Public Citizen, said in a statement. “This new rule will help prevent this kind of widespread fraud and ensure consumers can fight back.”

AFR In the NEws: Divide Between Financial Regulators Appointed by Trump, Obama Widens (Reuters)

The political fissure between an Obama-appointed financial overseer and regulators hired by U.S. President Donald Trump is widening, with Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) Director Richard Cordray threatening to challenge in court any attempt to kill his agency’s new arbitration rule. To overturn a CFPB rule, two-thirds of the FSOC must agree that it puts the whole banking system at risk. “It’s an extraordinarily high standard,” said Brian Marshall, policy counsel for Americans for Financial Reform, a Washington-based advocacy group. “It’s ludicrous that the arbitration rule would meet that standard.”

AFR In the News: Banks’ Imperfect Options for Killing CFPB Arbitration Rule (American Banker)

Opponents of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s arbitration rule are eyeing a trio of options for blocking the regulation before it takes effect, but all three are beset with their own challenges. The strategy with the most attention is for lawmakers on Capitol Hill to repeal the rule through the Congressional Review Act. But industry representatives are also considering the prospect of the Financial Stability Oversight Council overruling the regulation, or a group such as the Chamber of Commerce suing to throw the rule out. Yet all three appear to face an uphill climb. “Suggesting now that the rule would put the safety and soundness of the American banking system at risk is preposterous,” said Brian Marshall, policy counsel at Americans for Financial Reform. “Many banks do not use forced arbitration clauses at all, and the OCC has never suggested those institutions are not safe and sound as a result.”