Tuesday Mar. 20: Capitol Hill briefing sponsored by Americans for Financial Reform, Center for Responsible Lending, Consumers for Auto Reliability and Safety, NAACP, National Association of Consumer Advocates, National Consumer Law Center and National Council of La Raza.
“Surveys show high levels of voter support for tougher rules; apart from the Senate’s confirmation of two notable regulatory officials, however, most of last year’s congressional votes on such matters were over efforts to reverse or water down reforms already enacted into law. And while some legislators resisted those efforts and continued to press for more industry accountability, many others – particularly in the House – threw their weight behind a series of proposals to weaken existing rules or to undermine the agencies charged with implementing them.”
Nineteen members of Congress, led by Barney Frank, a lead author of the Dodd-Frank Act, filed the amicus brief linked below speaking out against the efforts of major Wall Street derivatives dealers to overturn key Dodd-Frank derivatives rules. The brief was drafted by former Just
Six weeks ago, the Commodity Futures Commission issued a staff letter granting temporary permission for U.S. derivatives to be traded on certain European trading platforms that are not compliant with Dodd-Frank rules on transparent derivatives trading. This temporary permission for rules-free trading was only granted
The National Review’s Reihan Salam examines the case for stronger regulation of nonbanks and “market-based financing,” and the political power of those, like the Blackstone Group’s Tony James, who are trying to convince the Obama administration to go slow. Salam expresses an “ideological bias” in favor of James’ position, while acknowledging the “serious and interesting” counter-arguments of AFR’s Marcus Stanley.
While the Administration wants to increase the CFTC’s budget, its $280 million request for FY 2015 is $35 million less than last year’s proposal, The American Banker points out. “We have the mandate, but not the money, to do the job,” Commissioner Bart Chilton said in a press release. Americans for Financial Reform, the story adds, has described underfunding of the CFTC as “a backdoor attack on derivatives regulation.”
Timothy Massad, nominated to lead the CFTC, “has drawn skepticism from [public] interest groups about his views on regulation,” according to Bloomberg, which cites Marcus Stanley, policy director for Americans for Financial Reform. “He’s really something of a blank,” Stanley said. “He doesn’t have a policy or substantive record at least in the areas regulated by the CFTC.”
AFR and more than 15 consumer organizations submitted a letter to the CFPB calling for stronger obligations on debt collectors and creditors, including in particular requirements that they actually have and maintain accurate records of debts, and that they cannot collect without real documentation that people owe and how much, limits on contacts with borrowers, and an end to harassment threatening conduct, including manipulation of credit reporting.
AFR joined the AFL-CIO and more than 40 organizations in sending a letter to the U.S. Trade Representative calling for a public consultation process to review and revise the “investor-state dispute settlement” (ISDS) process. This flawed process grants special legal rights and privileges to foreign-based business interests.
The House of Representatives plans to vote this week on the so-called “Consumer Financial Protection and Soundness Improvement Act” (HR 3193). This bill is a gift to the worst elements of Wall Street and the financial industry, whose tricks and traps cost American families tens of billions of dollars a year. If enacted into law, HR 3193 would invite a resurgence of the abusive and deceptive lending that was one of the leading causes of the financial crisis that nearly capsized the U.S. economy five-and-a-half years ago.