Statements and Press Releases Archives - Americans for Financial Reform

Statement: AFR Vows Renewed Fight Against Corrosive Wall Street Influence

Following the 2024 elections, Americans for Financial Reform will redouble our commitment to build a fairer, more racially just, and more inclusive economy and society. We must stop Wall Street from writing rules of the game that concentrate wealth at the top and make life more difficult and insecure for everyone else. People — across all parties and demographics — consistently and strongly support curbing Wall Street’s corrosive control of the economy and protecting families from the predatory and extractive financial industry.

News Release: New Legislation Needed to Curb Private Equity Abuses

The Stop Wall Street Looting Act of 2024 includes new measures to curb the growing power of private equity across the board and in key sectors of the economy like healthcare, and to penalize private equity firms and executives for their actions that harm a company and its workers even after they no longer control it. Lessons from the 2023 collapse of Steward Health Care, which stemmed from its 2010 buyout by private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management, shaped the new provisions.

News Release: New Effort to Curb Erroneous Medical Debt Collections Protects Families

Biden administration efforts to address challenges created by medical debt, highlighted at a White House meeting today, will curb its harmful impacts, including distorted credit reports and abusive collection practices. The impacts are a widespread problem for millions of people, but disproportionately harm communities of color.

News Release: Voting Record Highlights Lawmakers’ Stances on Financial Reform in 118th Congress

New report providing a snapshot of how every member of Congress voted on consumer protections, climate financial regulation, Wall Street, and financial industry legislative measures during the first session of the 118th Congress.

News Release: CFPB Saves Consumers Billions with Actions on Overdraft

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s new guidance on overdraft fees linked to ATM and one-time debit card transactions will help curtail predatory junk fees that obscure accurate pricing on bank services. The CFPB’s new guidelines can reduce the likelihood that overdraft services flout the law and prevent people from being charged illegal fees.

the outside exterior of the U.S. Treasury Department building

News Release: New Treasury Rules Pull Back the Curtain on Corporate Landlords and Their Financial Backers That Can No Longer Hide Behind LLCs

The Treasury Department released two new rules requiring the disclosure of real estate ownership transparency that will make it easier to identify corporate real estate backers and crack down on money laundering in the real estate sector. This announcement comes the week after the Department of Justice launched a lawsuit against RealPage for facilitating rent price fixing by corporate landlords, and together represent major back-to-back tenant victories against corporate landlords and their privately-funded financial backers

News Release: 160+ Groups Urge Clear Fee Disclosures for Paycheck Advance Apps in Letter to the CFPB

More than 160 consumer, labor, civil rights, faith-based, and community organizations submitted a comment letter to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) in support of its proposed interpretive rule ensuring important legal protections for consumers who use earned wage advance (EWA) or other fintech cash advance products that need to be repaid with the borrower’s next paycheck. The letter calls for clearer cost and fee disclosures for these workplace payday loans.

News Release: Public Interest Groups Defend SEC’s Climate Risk Disclosure Rule

Today, a coalition of public interest organizations filed an amicus brief in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eight Circuit defending the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) against challenges to its final rule requiring public companies to disclose climate-related risks to their businesses and plans to manage or mitigate them. The SEC rule aligns with the growing consensus among investors and financial regulators in the U.S. and around the world that climate change poses significant risks to financial systems, and that securities regulators have an important role to play in mitigating those risks.

News Release: 35 Groups Call on Next Administration to Carry On Fight Against Junk Fees

Today, 35 community, civil rights, consumer, and advocacy organizations called on presidential candidates to confront junk fees as a part of any future economic agenda. As President Biden highlights the success of his crackdown on junk fees – especially credit card late fees – presidential candidates should promise to protect people from unfair, undisclosed fees. Junk fees cost families tens of billions yearly. They inhibit competition and hurt consumers, workers, small businesses, and entrepreneurs. Fighting them is immensely popular.

News Release: 100+ Groups Support the CFPB’s Removal of Medical Debt From Credit Reports

Today, over 100 consumer, civil rights, military, legal services, and community groups submitted comments in strong support of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB) proposed rule to ban medical debt from credit reports. The proposal would stop credit reporting companies from sharing medical debts with lenders and prohibit lenders from making lending decisions based on medical information. The proposed rule is part of the CFPB’s efforts to address the burden of medical debt and coercive credit reporting practices.