Stock buybacks exacerbate the racial wealth gap, worsen economic inequality, and divert resources from the real economy which harms workers. Taxing buybacks would raise revenue and discourage companies from putting highly-paid executives ahead of the broader economy.
A section-by-section of Sen. Warren’s plan to address the predatory elements of the private equity business model that harm workers, investors, and communities.
Private equity has had a disastrous impact on the retail industry, driving dozens of firms into bankruptcy, shutting down tens of thousands of stores, and costing hundreds of thousands of jobs nationwide.
Private equity firms have bought up thousands of nursing homes across the country, lowering the quality of care and harming residents.
By creating accountability for the Wall Street tycoons who lead private equity takeovers and reversing the policies that enable wealth extraction, this set of policies can protect workers, families, and communities.
Private equity firms have driven much of the rise in surprise billing that threatens the financial stability of vulnerable patients as well as families’ health and peace of mind.
The carried interest tax loophole is an income tax avoidance scheme that allows private equity and hedge fund executives — some of the richest people in the world — to substantially lower the amount they pay in taxes, exacerbating income and wealth inequalities.
Americans for Financial Reform Education Fund and partners Public Citizen, Natural Resources Defense Council, and Center for American Progress released a white paper outlining the key elements that federal bank regulators—including the Federal Reserve Board, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, and the National Credit Union Administration—can and should incorporate into public supervisory guidance for banks on assessing and addressing the risks faced by banks from climate change.
Federal Reserve Board Chair Jerome Powell has presided over a broad deregulatory agenda that has made our financial system less resilient and driven rising wealth and income inequality.
AFR released housing policy recommendations to promote equitable housing access for all people in the United States, minimize pervasive harm from the COVID-19 pandemic, hold predatory actors accountable, and expand sustainable opportunities in communities of color.