Statements and Press Releases Archives - Americans for Financial Reform

News Release: Wall Street Money In 2019-20 Election Cycle Hits Highest Level Ever

During the 2019-20 election cycle, Wall Street spent at least $2.9 billion on campaign contributions and lobbying to influence policy in Washington, according to a report released today by Americans for Financial Reform. That total, which amounts to $4 million a day, shatters the previous record of $2 billion set in the 2015-16 presidential cycle. The highest-ever level of spending by Wall Street banks and financial services reflects the industry’s relentless push to influence decision-making, regardless of the party that controls Congress or the executive branch.

News Release: Federal Bench Needs Appointees With Consumer, Worker Perspective

A group of 24 groups today called on President Biden to nominate jurists to the federal courts who reflect a commitment to professional diversity and to reach beyond the large legal firms that often furnish many judicial nominees.

News Release: Federal financial stability watchdog stirs while some regulators snooze on climate

“The FSOC and Treasury must pivot from this meeting and push lagging regulators to turn today’s words on climate into bold and timely action. At its next meeting, the FSOC should take the concrete steps we recommend in the Climate Roadmap. There’s still time to act, but no more time to delay.”

— Alex Martin, Senior Policy Analyst, Americans for Financial Reform Education Fund

News Release: Financial Regulation an Essential Tool for Fighting Climate Crisis

The “Climate Roadmap for U.S. Financial Regulation,” from Americans for Financial Reform Education Fund and Public Citizen, outlines how Biden appointees can protect investors, workers, and the economy from the escalating risks caused by the climate crisis, while also shifting the regulatory framework towards one that promotes the transition to a low-carbon future.

News Release: Congress Must Pass Resolution to Rescind “Fake Lender” Rule that Facilitates Predatory Lending

AFR joins 338 groups representing all 50 states and the District of Columbia called for Congress to support a resolution to overturn rule that fosters loans with triple-digit interest rates that evade state and voter-approved interest rate caps

News Release: Supreme Court Should Not Roll Back Investor Rights and Unleash Corporate Misconduct

WASHINGTON, D.C. – March 24, 2021 – New concerns are being expressed today by a wide-ranging group of organizations and experts who are urging the U.S. Supreme Court to uphold the rights and protection of investors against corporate misconduct. In a sign-on statement from 38 groups and individuals the authors warn the pending case “has potentially far-reaching and devastating implications” for investors and market integrity

News Release: Fed Right to Abandon Relief Measures for Big Banks

Today, banking regulators announced that they would not be extending one of the largest elements of pandemic-related regulatory relief, the exemption that allowed banks to remove almost $2 trillion in government securities assets from their balance sheets for the purposes of complying with capital regulations. That was the right thing to do.

Statement: AFR Decries Systemic Racism and Misogyny After Shooting Deaths in Georgia

We are deeply saddened by the deaths of the eight shooting victims in Georgia, six of them Asian women, and stand in solidarity with their loved ones and the Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) community in mourning. The people murdered include Daoyou Feng, Delaina Ashley Yaun Gonzalez, Paul Andre Michels, and Xiaojie Tan, along with four victims who have not yet been identified.

These terrible murders come in the midst of heightened attacks on Asian Americans across the country, and starkly underline that anti-AAPI racism is pervasive and ongoing, and must be reckoned with in multiple ways. We decry the systemic racism and the misogyny that drove this racist violence, and all racist and misogynist violence, and pledge to be a part of seeking change.

News Release: Experts: U.S. Supreme Court Ruling in Goldman Sachs Case Could Have “Devastating Consequences” for Investors, Market Confidence

Will the U.S. Supreme Court allow investors defrauded by Goldman Sachs during the financial crisis to have their day in court? Or, will the Court rule in favor of Goldman Sachs and, in so doing, create a roadmap that publicly traded companies can use to make false and misleading statements that will harm Main Street investors and dramatically undermine market confidence by making it impossible for any investor to rely on the public statements of companies?

News Release: AFT Sounds Alarm over Private Equity, Urges Trustees with $3 Trillion under Management to Examine Investments

The American Federation of Teachers is advising its pension trustees with more than $3 trillion under management to review their private equity investments after a new report exposed the diminished returns and structural risks associated with the industry.