Category Archives: Letters and Statements

CFPB

News Release: As Supreme Court Considers Argument to Defang the Watchdog, a New Poll Shows Wide, Bipartisan Support for CFPB

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Following oral arguments made before the U.S. Supreme Court on the future of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), a new poll – commissioned by the Center for Responsible Lending and Americans for Financial Reform and released today – shows overwhelming support from Republican, Democratic, and independent voters for the CFPB’s mission and for the Bureau to establish several new consumer protections.

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News Release: Antitrust Agencies Must Boost Scrutiny of Private Equity Buyouts

New merger guidelines should confront the powerful and often insidious role played by Wall Street private equity in fostering monopolization across the American economy, according to a letter submitted by Americans for Financial Reform Education Fund. The letter, sent to the Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission, outlines concrete steps that authorities can take to combat the anti-competitive influence that private equity buyouts have had on industries as diverse as health care, retailing, fast food, and automotive services.

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Media Conversation with Legal Experts to Preview Upcoming CFPB v. CFSA, at Supreme Court

Washington, D.C. – On Wednesday, Sept. 23 at 2 pm ET, Americans for Financial Reform (AFR), the Constitutional Accountability Center, and the Center for Responsible Lending (CRL) will host a press call to preview one of the most important cases coming before the Supreme Court this term: CFPB v CFSA, a constitutional challenge to the funding structure of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). Sign up for the call at this link.

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Blog Post: AFR Applauds Rep. Pressley’s Efforts to Seek Accountability from Banks on their Racial Equity Pledges While Opponents Seek to Undermine Corporate Accountability Tools

As we approach the 60th anniversary of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, Representative Ayanna Pressley sent a letter to the CEOs of the five largest banks in the U.S. — Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo, U.S. Bank, and Citigroup — calling for a financial audit report detailing the status of the racial equity pledges they made in response to the summer 2020 uprisings following the murder of George Floyd.  The pledges ranged from $116 million committed by U.S. Bank to $30 billion committed by JPMorgan Chase.

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Letter to Congress: AFR Opposition Letter to House Capital Formation Bills

AFR opposes a series of legislative proposals that have recently been approved by House committees, and, in some cases, by the full House of Representatives, and that seek to amend the federal securities laws in ways that would be harmful to investors. Some of the House proposals directly weaken regulatory oversight and threaten investor protection, while others seek to alter policy in a more subtle or incremental fashion.

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In The News: Welcome to Blackstone U.S.A. (Tablet Magazine)

A 2022 research memo from Americans for Financial Reform, a nonpartisan nonprofit coalition, found that private equity firms are now landlords to at least 1.6 million families across the United States. This figure is likely an underestimate.

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