Commentary Archives - Americans for Financial Reform

A book titled "Consumer Protection" on a desk with a gavel resting on top

Blog: Trump CFPB Abandons Data Broker Rule Aimed at Decreasing Fraud and Identity Theft

Earlier this week, the Trump CFPB withdrew the agency’s previously proposed data broker rule, which would have limited how our sensitive and private financial data is collected, used, and sold. With little to no other regulation over data brokers, the withdrawal of this rule will allow companies to collect and sell our private and sensitive financial data to third party strangers without oversight or accountability.

Blog: Private Equity Barons Snatch Up Public Service Jobs to Pad Their Profits

Wall Street’s revolving door has spun more appointees from the private equity industry into the Trump administration than ever before. CEOs, founders, and even family members have been tapped to spearhead some of the very institutions that regulate or contract their own companies.

Blog: Congress Should Close Wall Street Tax Loopholes, Not Offer More Tax Breaks for Billionaires

This week, Congress will start considering the tax provisions of the reconciliation legislation, Trump’s “big beautiful bill” that will slash safety net programs and further dismantle agencies like the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau in order to pay for tax breaks for wealthy families and corporations.

Blog: FIRM Act – Why It Should Worry You, And The “Debanking” Distraction

Recently, some of the most politically influential industries — fossil fuels, firearms, private prisons, crypto — have been crying foul about so-called debanking, accusing banks of unjustly denying them financial services because of supposed political biases. This is part of a larger misinformation campaign that is hijacking civil rights language to frame powerful industries as victims of discrimination and achieve their deregulatory goals.

Blog: Trump Crypto Ventures Should Stall Senate Consideration of Stablecoin Bill

The Senate is moving toward legislation to embed cryptocurrency tokens known as stablecoins into the fabric of the financial system at the very same time that a prominent person – no less than President Trump – is plumbing the depths of corruption and conflicts of interest. The beginning of the solution to the problem of crypto scams and corruption involves stopping this legislation – not fast-tracking it to enactment.

Blog: Congress Must Close the Carried Interest Tax Loophole that Fuels Predation, Not Production

Few tax loopholes better exemplify how our rigged economy rewards wealth extraction over real work than the carried interest loophole. The controversial loophole exists to benefit some of the wealthiest people on Wall Street—especially private equity executives—at the expense of workers, communities, and the public.

Aerial view of a winding highway through a forest

Blog: State Pension Power- How State Policymakers Can Fight Against Attacks On Workers’ Retirement Funds.

Public pensions hold trillions of dollars of workers’ capital — wages earned by teachers, firefighters, nurses, and public workers who keep our society running. But this money is under attack.

Blog: Attack on Shareholder Rights is a Red Herring Concealing Power Grab by Asset Managers, Private Equity, and Oligarchs

The Business Roundtable’s most recent diatribe against a modest shareholder check on the power of corporate boards and executives came just in time for Tuesday’s House Financial Services Committee hearing on proxy advisors — firms that provide research and proxy voting recommendations to shareholders.

Blog: Trump CFPB Gives Big Tech Another Present by Dropping PayPal Case

Another Musk/Big Tech giveaway occurred this week as the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau dropped its case against PayPal for skirting prepaid card rules that apply to gift cards and re-chargeable payment apps.

April 5th 2025 Hands Off CFPB Union Signs

Blog: There is No “Right Way” to Close the CFPB

Let’s be clear: Hal Scott’s opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal calling for the shutdown of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB)—because the Fed has been running a deficit—isn’t just a bad policy recommendation; it’s an intentionally backward argument that advocates harming the very people the financial system has historically exploited.