Statements and Press Releases Archives - Page 2 of 84

News Release: Report Exposes How Real Estate Industry Maintains Housing Crisis

An intricate network of housing industry groups, often backed by corporate landlords, are actively blocking solutions that would alleviate the worst aspects of the current housing crisis and improve affordability, according to a new report. The report, from Capital Strategies for the Common Good, the Private Equity Stakeholder Project, Bargaining for the Common Good, and Americans for Financial Reform Education Fund, sheds light on the money behind the political influence that has distorted the politics of housing in favor of wealthy interests.

News Release: Groups Call on Federal Agencies to Fight Private Equity Abuses in Health Care

Today over 90 organizations and individuals, representing patients, workers, communities; public interest advocates, and health care researchers, called on federal authorities, as part of their review of competition in health care, to take action to curb the abuses of private equity and safeguard the ability of doctors to deliver quality care to all patients and achieve equitable health outcomes.

News Release: CFPB Database Expected to Help Curb Repeat Consumer Law Violations

A new centralized public database that catalogs violations of consumer protection laws by nonbank financial companies like payday lenders and debt collectors will aid state and federal enforcement efforts that often operate under the radar and are hard to track. The repeat misconduct registry will help remedy these regulatory blind spots and make it easier for regulatory agencies across the local, state, and federal levels to more easily spot bad actors. Members of the public, investors, creditors, business partners, and consumer advocacy organizations will also be able to more easily track financial firms subject to law enforcement orders due to repeat consumer violations.

News Release: House-Passed Crypto Bill Risks Investor Harm and Financial Instability

The cryptocurrency bill passed by dozens of House Democrats and most Republicans at the behest of a free-spending industry lobby lacks effective protections for consumers, establishes weak rules for this fraud-ridden industry and contains loopholes that could undermine regulatory safeguards for all investors and consumers. The influx of crypto political spending this election year – notably millions in negative ads in California’s Senate primary – loomed large in this vote. Crypto super PACs, largely financed by a handful of wealthy Silicon Valley tech donors, have pledged to spend tens or even hundreds of millions of dollars this election cycle.

News Release: House Crypto Bill Faces Broad Opposition from Public Interest Voices

As the House meets this Wednesday to vote on a bill that would create a new federal framework for crypto regulation, labor unions, consumer and investor protection organizations and experts are raising the alarm about the bill’s potential to cause serious consumer and investor harm. Americans for Financial Reform and Demand Progress joined more than 30 national and state organizations and academic scholars and thought leaders with financial regulatory expertise in sending a letter to Congress expressing opposition to H.R. 4763, The Financial Innovation and Technology for the 21st Century Act (“FIT” Act).

News Release: Supreme Court Delivers Rare Good News for Consumers

The Supreme Court has upheld the constitutionality of the funding method Congress chose for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, allowing a vital agency to continue its work in holding Wall Street and predatory lenders to account, and promoting economic and racial justice. The case stems from a lawsuit against the CFPB brought by the Community Financial Services Association over a regulation that prohibited lenders from withdrawing funds from consumer accounts after two failed attempts due to lack of funds. CFSA, a lobby group for payday lenders, argued that the CFPB’s funding, which is drawn from the Federal Reserve, is unconstitutional.

News Release: Stay of CFPB Late Fees Rule Denies Consumers Needed Protection

The decision by a federal judge in the Fifth Circuit to stay a rule capping credit card late fees is a blow not only to consumers but to the rule of law as right-wing jurists resort to increasingly extreme measures to block sensible regulation. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on March 5 finalized a regulation that caps credit card late fees at $8 in most cases, down from a typical $32. The rule is expected to save consumers about $10 billion each year, an average savings of $220 per year for the more than 45 million people who are charged late fees. The rule only applies to the largest credit card issuers, and was to have taken effect May 14.

News Release: Executive Pay Rule Could Reduce Incentives for Reckless Bank Risk Taking

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) voted to propose a rule implementing an important statutory mandate to ban incentive-based executive compensation that encourages reckless risk-taking, but two other regulators – the Federal Reserve and the Securities and Exchange Commission – have yet to do the same. Congress tasked six agencies with promulgating this critical rule when it passed the Dodd-Frank Act in 2010. But only four out of the six were part of today’s proposal — the FDIC, the OCC, the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA), and the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA).

News Release: Landmark report reveals hidden fossil fuel portfolio of private equity titan KKR, finds major underreporting of climate emissions

With over half a trillion dollars ($553 billion) in assets under management, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co (KKR) has emerged as a major financier in the energy sector, yet the firm is not required to disclose the full scope of its investments or its impact due to regulatory loopholes. A new report by Private Equity Climate Risks consortium members Americans for Financial Reform Education Fund and Global Energy Monitor, 93 Million: The Carbon Emissions KKR Didn’t Disclose, finds that KKR holds investments in 188 fossil fuel assets in 21 countries, spread among the firm’s ownership of 17 portfolio companies.

News Release: New Staffing Standards for Nursing Homes Will Protect Healthcare Workers and Patients

New rules on minimum staffing in nursing homes will safeguard patients and health care workers by improving access to consistent and quality care, according to Americans for Financial Reform Education Fund. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) is setting a new comprehensive staffing requirement in its final rule on Minimum Staffing Standards for Long-Term Care (LTC) Facilities and Medicaid Institutional Payment Transparency Reporting.