Category Archives: Statements and Press Releases

News Release: Bipartisan Group of 25 State Attorneys General Urge Congress to Repeal OCC “True Lender” Rule

In a rare form of bipartisan agreement, a group of 25 Attorneys General (AGs)  sent a letter today to Congressional leadership urging it to “use the Congressional Review Act (CRA) to rescind the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency’s (OCC’s) “True Lender” rule in order to “safeguard states’ fundamental sovereign rights to protect their citizens from financial abuse.”   

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.

Clean Energy Climate

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

a melting glacier

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: 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

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.