Letters to Congress Archives - Page 30 of 49 - Americans for Financial Reform

Letter to Congress: AFR Urges House Financial Services Committee to Hold Wall Street Accountable

“On behalf of Americans for Financial Reform, we are writing here to express our opposition to seven of the bills under consideration before the Committee today… These bills all move in the direction of less accountability for Wall Street, which is a move in precisely the wrong direction. The financial crisis of 2008 – and continuing examples of financial sector malfeasance and irresponsibility since then — have made the need for more vigorous regulation painfully clear. Instead of working to eliminate consumer, investor, and systemic protections, the committee should focus on completing the job of strengthening them.”

Letter to Congress: AFR, Public Citizen and Five Organizations Advocates for Congress to Let the SEC do its Job, Reject HR 3798

“The undersigned organizations urge you to oppose HR 3798, the Due Process Restoration Act of 2015… HR 3798 would make it more difficult for the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to hold companies accountable when they break the law – even as those same firms frequently deny basic due process to their investors and customers through forced arbitration.”

Letter to Congress: AFR Joins Eight Organizations in Advocating for Consumers Protections, Opposing the TAILOR Act

“The undersigned consumer groups oppose the Taking Account of Institutions with Low Operation Risk Act of 2015 (H.R. 2896) and amendments that will put consumers at risk from dangerous products or practices and undermine the established notice and comment process in place for financial regulations. “

Letter to Congress: AFR, 20 Organizations Urge Support for Legislation that Provides Increased Protections for Bank Whistleblowers

“We, the undersigned groups, are writing to express our support for the “Whistleblower Augmented Reward and Nonretaliation (WARN) Act of 2016”, introduced by Ranking Member Cummings and Senator Tammy Baldwin. This common-sense legislation would provide updated financial incentives and stronger anti-retaliation protections for industry insiders who blow the whistle on bank fraud.”

Letter to Congress: AFR and CFA Urge Congress to Protect Investors, Oppose HR 1675

” On behalf of Americans for Financial Reform (AFR), we are writing to express our strong opposition to HR 1675, the “Encouraging Employee Ownership Act of 2015”. This legislation contains five provisions, four of which would significantly harm the ability of the SEC to protect investors. At a time when markets are turbulent and investment products are growing ever more complicated, Congress should not act to make financial markets even more dangerous for investors.”

Letter to Congress: AFR, 37 Organizations Oppose HR 766, Urge Congress Not to Give Banks a Free Pass on Fraud

“The undersigned community, consumer and civil rights organizations strongly oppose H.R. 766, the Financial Institution Customer Protection Act of 2015, introduced by Representative Luetkemeyer. The bill will hamper critical Department of Justice and banking regulator efforts to detect fraud and money laundering, putting consumers and financial institutions at risk of serious financial loss.”

Letter to Congress: AFR, 268 Groups Call On You To Oppose HR 4018 and Support a Strong Payday Rule

“The undersigned civil rights, consumer, labor, faith, veterans, seniors, and community organizations, strongly urge you to oppose H.R. 4018, the “Consumer Protection and Choice Act.” This harmful bill would limit the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB) ability to protect all consumers against high-cost payday, car title, and installment loans… H.R. 4018 would allow the payday industry to avoid federal regulation altogether by pushing an industry-backed proposal based on a Florida law that has proven ineffective at stopping the payday loan debt trap.”

Letter to Congress: AFR, 88 Organizations Oppose Changing the Leadership Structure of the CFPB

“Those who backed the CFPB’s creation and support its work overwhelmingly agree that one director is the preferred structure. Those who push hardest for a change to a commission opposed the creation of a consumer protection agency at the outset. Consumer advocates are united in their support for the current structure. This is not a case of the public demanding “reform.” Rather, it is a campaign manufactured by the very Wall Street banks, payday lenders, and other financial firms the CFPB was created to regulate. We urge you to defend a strong CFPB and to reject proposals to change the leadership structure, weaken the funding, narrow the authority, or otherwise hobble the effectiveness of this crucially important agency.”

Letter to Congress: AFR and Consumer Federation of America Urge Congress Not to Undermine Investor Protections

“We are writing in advance of this week’s mark-up to express our concerns regarding two of the bills scheduled for consideration – H.R. 2187, the Fair Investment Opportunities for Professional Experts Act and H.R. 3784, the SEC Small Business Advocate Act. Both bills require significant amendments, described below, to ensure that they do not undermine essential investor protections. Unless those changes are adopted, we urge you to oppose these bills.”

Letter to Congress: Delaying the DoL Fiduciary Rule Would Cripple It

“We are writing to urge you to tell both your leadership and appropriators that you strongly oppose any rider that will directly or indirectly defund, delay or otherwise interfere with the Department of Labor’s ability to finalize its rule requiring retirement investment advice to be in the best interest of investors…. Every additional day of delay adds to the losses that working families and retirees suffer because of financial advice that is not in their best interests. We urge you to let both your leadership and appropriators know that you stand with your hard-working constituents who are doing their best to save for retirement—and against any rider that would diminish their efforts. “