Category Archives: Statements and Press Releases

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

News Release: Statement in Response to Biden Administration Executive Order on Digital Assets

“The administration’s order includes the recognition that the rapid growth of digital assets as instruments for financial speculation is creating a wide range of serious risks and harms for consumers, investors, and the public at large.  It is important that the order recognizes and articulates a set of these risks, and a whole of government approach can help address the scale and scope of the potential harm. It will be important for the studies authorized by the order to generate useful data and momentum for decisive regulatory action,” said Mark Hays, senior policy analyst with AFR and Demand Progress.

News Release: Advocates Call for FDIC to Stop Banks from Fronting for Predatory Lenders

With new leadership taking the helm of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), Americans for Financial Reform and more than a dozen other consumer and civil rights organizations have joined in calling for the FDIC to “stop permitting its supervised institutions to front for predatory lenders evading state interest rate limits.

News Release: Unions, Civil Rights, Financial and Environmental Justice Groups Back President Biden’s Slate of Federal Reserve Nominees 

In a letter addressed to Senator Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), Chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, a coalition of 97 unions, civil rights, financial, and environmental groups declared their support for Dr. Lisa Cook, Dr. Philip Jefferson, and Sarah Bloom Raskin, all nominated by President Joe Biden to serve on the Federal Reserve’s Board of Governors.

News Release: Statement on Federal Reserve Nominees

The nomination of the highly qualified Sarah Bloom Raskin, Lisa Cook, and Philip Jefferson to the Fed is a very welcome step forward towards a better-regulated Wall Street. The Fed needs to steer a new course that begins with a reversal of the deregulation of the Trump era. This work must continue with pro-active regulation and supervision of Wall Street.

SEC Building

Statement: AFR Encouraged by SEC’s Proposals Addressing Regulatory Loopholes

Americans for Financial Reform is encouraged by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) proposals to address several long-standing loopholes exploited by financial market participants and provide greater transparency to investors and address issues of safety and soundness across the financial system.