Consumer advocates criticized the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) for today finalizing a rule that encourages online non-bank lenders to launder their loans through banks so the non-bank lenders can charge triple-digit interest rates in states where high rates are illegal.
Nineteen organizations and individuals that advocate on behalf of consumers, workers, investors and retirees have called on the Department of Labor to withdraw its controversial policy statement opening the door to private equity investments in 401(k) plans.
With the country struggling to address pandemic-related economic disruptions that have made it harder than ever for working Americans to save for a secure and independent retirement, the Department of Labor (“DOL”) is expected to release its new investment advice rule for retirement plans within weeks, if not days. Advocates for workers, investors, and retirees are concerned the new rule could make matters worse by stripping retirement savers of already inadequate protections from faulty investment advice.
This legislation will create vitally needed new public protections by putting constraints on the collection, use, sharing, and selling of our personal data by financial services companies and all firms.
We stand in solidarity with the families of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and the millions of Black people subject to racial oppression, violence, and murder at the hands of the police and of white supremacists.
Consumer groups and banking industry organizations joined together today to support bipartisan legislation that would prevent Economic Impact Payments from being subject to garnishment.
The Center for Responsible Lending (CRL) and Americans for Financial Reform (AFR) released a bipartisan poll today showing that Americans around the country and across partisan identities strongly support student debt reduction during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Private equity firms loaded J. Crew with debt and hid assets away from investors and creditors.
Yesterday, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) rejected the proposed private equity takeover of the Public Interest Registry (PIR), the non-profit that manages the non-commercial, charity, and non-profit internet domain registry for all Dot-Org websites. The decision recognized that the private equity debt loads and extractive business model would hinder Dot-Org’s ability to serve its non-profit clients without raising prices, compromising service, creating new revenue streams that comprise users’ data and privacy, or otherwise imposing unfair costs on 10 million organizations.
Absent major changes, the Federal Reserve’s multi-trillion-dollar funding programs will reward corporate insiders and financial speculators, without guaranteeing desperately needed help for those hardest-hit by the coronavirus crisis. The Fed needs to set the right priorities for this credit and impose conditions that ensure the benefits of this extraordinary assistance go to those who need it most.