AFR submitted a comment letter to the CFTC on the clearing mandate. This is the CFTC’s initial proposal for what derivatives will have to be cleared, and the CFTC has the ability to designate more swaps for clearing, which AFR recommends in the letter.
AFR submitted a comment letter to the CFTC regarding a rule that will determine whether the CFTC can regulate derivatives trading by foreign affiliates of US banks and corporations. Since derivatives trades move easily around the world and between affiliates and the parent company, it is important that US regulators be able to apply Dodd-Frank to such foreign trades. Our letter urged the CFTC not to let financial institutions escape derivatives rules by funneling transactions through their foreign affiliates.
The JOBS Act rulemaking on the SEC’s schedule Aug. 22 raises a variety of complex issues that demand a full and transparent rulemaking process. The rushed approach to rulemaking reportedly contemplated by the agency would not allow for full consideration of these issues, and would therefore put investors at risk.
AFR issued a press statement urging the SEC to abandone its rushed JOBS Act Rulemaking, which could put investors at risk.
AFR signed onto a letter supporting the CFPB’s overseas remittances rule, which requires remittance transfer providers to provide essential information to consumers about the actual amount of money to be received by their family in the foreign country. The rule makes remittance providers liable for agents acting on their behalf and includes an error resolution procedure to resolve problems.
With the SEC poised to adopt its first major rule under the controversial JOBS Act next week, former regulators, securities law experts, and advocates for investors, workers, and older Americans have called on SEC Chairman Mary Schapiro not to move forward with rulemaking without first carefully examining the potential harm to investors, developing a regulatory approach designed to minimize those harms, and putting its regulatory proposal out for public comment. At its August 22 meeting, the SEC is reportedly considering lifting the ban on general solicitation and marketing in private offerings through an interim or temporary rule, a move that advocates say would be a clear violation of the letter and the spirit of the Administrative Procedures Act.
AFR submitted a comment letter to the CFTC opposing the delay of key international derivatives rules. At a minimum, safe guards should be maintained if the delay is granted.
In a little noted speech to his constituents in May, Paul Ryan decried the “crony capitalism” that he said, prompted the big bank bail-outs of 2008 (though he himself voted for the TARP, and he himself gets massive campaign contributions from big financial firms).
AFR sent a letter to members of Congress urging them to oppose H.R. 2446. This legislation will exempt payments related to homeowner warranties (also known as home service contracts) from the Real Estate Settlement Procedure Act’s ban on kickbacks and referral fees. We believe exempting payments related to these products from the ban on kickbacks and referral fees would be harmful to consumers.
AFR sponsored an event celebrating the first birthday of the CFPB with Director Richard Cordray. The even was cosponsored by AFL-CIO, Consumer Action, Consumer Federation ofAmerica, Consumers Union, The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, National Community Reinvestment Coalition, National Fair HousingAlliance, and U.S.PIRG