The AFR Education Fund sent a statement for the record to the House Financial Services Committee concerning Facebook’s proposal for the Libra digital token and payment system. The statement describes ways in which Facebook is attempting to create an unregulated financial product of potentially global scale and the dangers this would pose to the users of the token and the broader financial system.
The message, for too long, has been that policymakers must choose between policies that protect shareholders’ interest and those that protect workers’ interests. Investors know that economic stability is good for investment outcomes. Over the long-term, economic stability requires broad-based economic growth and shared prosperity.
On March 7, 2019, AFR Senior Policy Counsel Linda Jun offered testimony at a hearing entitled: “Putting Consumers First: A Semi-Annual Review of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau” before the House Financial Services Committee.
On July 17, 2018, AFR Policy Director Marcus Stanley offered testimony at a hearing entitled “Examining Capital Regimes for Financial Institutions,” before the Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit Subcommittee of the House Financial Services Committee.
AFR Policy Director Marcus Stanley testified to the Financial Institutions subcommittee of the House Financial Services Committee on five pieces of proposed legislation. Written Testimony: Marcus Stanley Testimony To House Financial Services FI Subcommittee December 7 2017 FINAL The full hearing is available here: https://financialservices.house.gov/calendar/eventsingle.aspx?EventID=402730
“Americans for Financial Reform (AFR) appreciates the opportunity to provide this statement for the record of this Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit Subcommittee hearing, which considers several bills that would significantly undermine consumer financial protection and the safety and soundness of the financial system. Although the hearing is entitled “Examining Legislative Proposals to Provide Targeted Regulatory Relief to Community Financial Institutions,” the bills under consideration are not focused principally on community financial institutions. The most sweeping provisions of these bills apply to all institutions, many of which would radically decrease oversight of the nation’s largest banks and increase the risk of harm to the public.”
“This legislation would be better dubbed ‘Wall Street’s CHOICE Act,’ because it would have a devastating effect on the capacity of regulators to protect the public interest and defend consumers from Wall Street wrongdoing and the economy from risks created by too-big-to-fail financial institutions.” — testimony at House Financial Services Committee hearing, April 26
“There is a clear and compelling public interest that Congress continue to support vigorous enforcement of laws that protect military families from wrongful financial practices… [T]he strong record of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and its Office of Servicemember Affairs underscores the need for Congress to resist efforts that seek to hamstring this work. Tampering with the agency’s authorities, structure, and independence would be harmful to military families and honest companies across the country.”
In the new political environment, it is likely that there will be a heavy emphasis on the capital formation mission of the SEC. The IAC should play a critical role in reminding the Commission that investor protection is crucial to stable and effective capital formation. …Improving financial entity disclosures is crucial if we are to improve market discipline for large financial entities and investor discipline for funds.