Today, in a win for servicemembers—who are too often the targets of harmful lending practices—the Department of Defense announced finalized rules to close gaps in the Military Lending Act (MLA) regulations that have allowed for exorbitantly high-interest rate loans to persist for men and women
“This is a huge problem – one that, over time, can easily add up to a difference of tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars in retirement savings. Under the current rules, some of the financial professionals offering retirement investment advice are legally bound to look out for the best interests of their clients; but other professionals, while perceived as having such a duty and clearly benefiting from the perception, are free to put their own interests first, even if that means saddling their clients with needlessly high fees or inappropriate risks.”
AFR put together a video with Senator Elizabeth Warren to celebrate the fifth anniversary of Dodd-Frank, and to discuss the next steps facing financial reform.
With the rulemaking process moving into its final stages, the Department of Labor received a delivery today of petitions in which more than 230,000 signers call for action to protect Americans against self-serving retirement advice. The signatures were gathered by CREDO Action, MoveOn.org, Americans for Financial Reform, and Public Citizen. Ethel Sprouse, the former Mayor of Cedar Bluff, Alabama, accompanied the petition deliverers and told her story at the event.
The Consumer Reporting in Bankruptcy Act of 2015 will keep borrowers from continuing to be haunted and harmed by debts discharged in bankruptcy. Millions of consumers who are in bankruptcy find themselves continuing to deal with debts that remain on their credit reports even though they have been discharged. Passage of this bill would be a big help to consumers who too often have their credit scores negatively impacted by debts erroneously remaining on their reports, or pay debts they do not owe.
“We are writing regarding the upcoming vacancies at the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). We believe that it is of utmost importance that you nominate candidates with a strong and demonstrated commitment to protecting investors and to moving ahead with needed reforms in our financial markets.”
In a new report, Americans for Financial Reform looks at what the 113th Congress did in 2013-2014 to advance or impede the cause of stronger regulation of the financial industry. AFR’s report, Where They Stand on Financial Reform (view or download PDF here), tracks a
“The legislation would make it easier for Wall Street to escape tough rules designed to make trading more competitive and transparent, Marcus Stanley, policy director for Americans for Financial Reform, said in an interview. ‘It could undo various parts of the Dodd-Frank Act by permitting American banks to transact in locations where swaps are not as well-regulated,’ Stanley said.”
“Corinthian Colleges made many promises to its students – promises of a good education and job opportunities on the other side – but behind the slogans was an institution that churned out big profits by targeting unsuspecting, low-income students with predatory recruitment and lending practices. “
The American Action Forum has released a study claiming that the Dodd-Frank Act will reduce total U.S. economic output by $895 billion between 2016 and 2025. But the study has multiple significant flaws. In sum, the AAF study both exaggerates the growth costs of regulation and fails to include benefits from regulation that would substantially exceed even these exaggerated costs.