Financial Reform News Archives - Page 22 of 125 - Americans for Financial Reform

AFR Statement: Google sets an important example on payday loan ads

“To its considerable credit, Google has decided to stop running search ads for debt-trap payday loans. This decision, which follows a similar announcement by Facebook last year, closes off an important avenue of customer recruitment for an industry that is doing more and more of its business online. Payday loans, whether made through physical or virtual storefronts, are engineered to suck people into long-term triple-digit-interest debt, making their financial problems worse, not better.”

Letter to Regulators: AFR, 9 Orgs Urge Treasury, IRS to Disclose Carried Interest Payments

AFR sent a letter today to the Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service to require alternative asset managers to disclose the amount of carried interest they received in their annual tax filings. The letter states that: “The carried interest tax loophole allows managers of

AFR in the News: The Billionaire Banker in The Shadows (Forbes)

“In a stroke of brilliant financial maneuvering Lone Star bundled some of the mortgages into bonds and sold them to investors, immediately booking large profits… ‘Lone Star has bought these loans at a discount from the government–-in effect, they got principal reduction. But they are not passing this benefit on to homeowners or communities,’ says Lisa Donner, executive director of Americans for Financial Reform.

AFR’s Senior Policy Analyst, Alexis Goldstein, Delivers Remarks at Press Conference on the WARN Act

“Robust whistleblower programs are crucial to overcome the fear and intimidation that stifle whistleblowers from coming forward. I spent seven years on Wall Street, and I can attest to the fact that financial firms are not interested in informing their workers of their whistleblower rights. “

Joint Letter: AFR Joins 16 Organizations in Urging Warren Buffett to Condemn Discriminatory Auto Lending

“Racially motivated discretionary auto dealer markups are a growing problem in the industry. As you know, in dealer financing, the dealer works with lenders interested in buying the credit contract. While the lender’s rate is based on the buyer’s credit profile, the dealer is given the authority to increase that rate and keep some or all of the difference as compensation. The additional charge is included in the interest rate, making it invisible to the buyer.”

Letter to Congress: Protect Businesses and Consumers, Fully Fund the CFTC

“We are writing on behalf of Americans for Financial Reform to urge you to stand for consumers, businesses, and the public by fully funding the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. The CFTC’s role in regulating commodity markets is vital to businesses that use commodity markets to hedge risks, vital to the economic well-being of American families who rely on affordable prices for products like gasoline and food, and vital to overall financial stability. “

AFR Statement: The State of Financial Reform

In his final State of the Union address, President Obama reminded the nation that “food stamp recipients didn’t cause the financial crisis; Wall Street recklessness did.” While he did not linger on the subject, the totality of his remarks made a strong case for measures to make the financial system safer and fairer. We agree about the need for such measures, and we laud the progress that has already been made. But, as we enter the final year of this administration, there is more that needs to be done.

Letter to Congress: Delaying the DoL Fiduciary Rule Would Cripple It

“We are writing to urge you to tell both your leadership and appropriators that you strongly oppose any rider that will directly or indirectly defund, delay or otherwise interfere with the Department of Labor’s ability to finalize its rule requiring retirement investment advice to be in the best interest of investors…. Every additional day of delay adds to the losses that working families and retirees suffer because of financial advice that is not in their best interests. We urge you to let both your leadership and appropriators know that you stand with your hard-working constituents who are doing their best to save for retirement—and against any rider that would diminish their efforts. “

Joint Letter: AFR Joins 27 Organizations in Urging President Obama Administration to Ban “Golden Parachute” Compensation Packages

“On behalf of our millions of supporters across the country, we are writing to urge you to put in place a policy for the remainder of your term that would require new administration officials coming from the financial industry to forego compensation offered by their former employers in exchange for their decisions to enter into public service.”

Joint Letter: AFR Joins 27 Organizations in Urging Obama Administration to Ban “Golden Parachute” Compensation Packages

“On behalf of our millions of supporters across the country, we are writing to urge you to put in place a policy for the remainder of your term that would require new administration officials coming from the financial industry to forego compensation offered by their former employers in exchange for their decisions to enter into public service.”