Category Archives: Financial Reform News

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AFR in the News: Consumer Complaint Database Producing Results

Commerce Bank hiked the interest rate on Mira Tanna’s credit card to 20 percent – without telling her. Once she figured out what the bank had done, realized what happened, Tanna decided to make use of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s new online complaint database,

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AFR in the News: Rigged Libor Costs States & Localities $6 Billion

“The Libor bid-rigging scandal is poised to more than double the losses suffered by U.S. states and localities that bought $500 billion in interest-rate swaps before the financial crisis,” according to Bloomberg News (Oct. 9). “Manipulation of the London interbank offered rate cost issuers in

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AFR and AFL-CIO Oppose Anti-Investor JOBS Act General Solicitation Rule

In a joint comment letter submitted today to the Securities and Exchange Commission, AFR and AFL-CIO expressed strong opposition to the agency’s proposed rule lifting the ban on general solicitation and advertising in private offerings. The groups called on the SEC to withdraw the rule proposal and issue a new rule incorporating reasonable safeguards to protect investors and promote market integrity.

USA Today Calls for Financial Transaction Tax

“In a sane world, high-frequency trading would be a minor specialty at best,” says a 9/27 editorial. “But in the bizarro world that Wall Street has become, such activity now makes up the majority of all trades…” With the SEC preparing to hold a hearing

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AFR In The News: Groups Blast Muni Advisor Bill In Letter To Lawmakers

The Bond Buyer devoted an article to AFR and affiliated groups letter of opposition to HR 2827, which would roll back Dodd-Frank protections for taxpayers in municipal finance. An excerpt: Seven groups, led by Americans for Financial Reform, urged lawmakers to vote “no” to H.R.

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AFR in the News: Volcker Rule Still a Hot Topic on Capitol Hill

More than 100 members of Congress have communicated with the Federal Reserve and other regulators about the yet-to-be-finalized Volcker Rule, which is supposed to restrain banks from making risky trades or investing in hedge funds. “The Fed, like all regulators, provides feedback to lawmakers,” Ben