Category Archives: Statements and Press Releases

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National Faith, Community and Labor Leaders Call on FHFA Director Watt to Take Action to Help Homeowners and Communities

“We write to you now on behalf of the millions of families who are still struggling with negative home equity, as well as those who are in danger of losing their homes through foreclosure, and the neighbors and communities hurt by foreclosures around them. The need to swiftly reverse the government sponsored enterprise (GSE) policy on principal reduction remains a major priority for many organizations and community members.”

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Nearly 600,000 Americans Ask Senators to Support “21st Century Glass-Steagall Act”

“At the Capitol this afternoon [July 9], Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) received petitions in which nearly 600,000 Americans call for action on the 21st Century Glass-Steagall Act. This bipartisan bill, introduced by Senator Warren along with Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.), Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), and Angus King (I-Maine), would address the problem of Wall Street banks that have become too complicated, too conflicted and too powerful, as well as simply too big.”

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AFR Statement on Final SEC Cross-Border Rule

“Overall, this rule is disappointing. It continues to leave a major gap in regulatory authority regarding the application of U.S. law to foreign subsidiaries of U.S. banks. Specifically, while the rule applies U.S. jurisdiction to cases where a foreign subsidiary’s swap counterparty has legal recourse to the U.S. parent bank for the performance of a specific swap, it does not extend jurisdiction to cases where the parent U.S. bank is implicitly or even explicitly committed to guarantee the subsidiary in general.”

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House Reauthorization Bill Would Undermine Rather than Support CFTC

“The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has a huge role to play in protecting consumers and the economy against fraud, price manipulation, and reckless speculation… Unfortunately, HR 4413 would seriously interfere with the agency’s ability to fulfill its mission and defend our economic security.”

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AFR Statement: The Senate Looks at Student Loan Debt

40 million Americans currently owe some $1.2 trillion in student loan debt, which is making it hard for people to buy cars, homes, and even daily necessities. In one recent survey, 29 percent of borrowers said that student loans had caused them to delay getting married…

So this is a problem that fully deserves the double-barreled attention it is getting from the Senate. And more: it deserves meaningful action from regulators and legislators alike.

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AFR Calls for Strong Rules on Payday Lending

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s latest report on payday lending reaffirms what the Bureau’s initial research showed a year ago: these ultra-high-cost loans, while promoted as a form of emergency credit, consistently lead to a cycle of debt. Even after paying substantial fees, many borrowers end up “owing as much or more on their very last loan as the entire amount they had borrowed initially,” CFPB Director Richard Cordray pointed out.

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AFR Statement on CFTC Funding in the FY 2015 Budget

“Refusing to adequately fund the CFTC is a backdoor attack on derivatives regulation. The agency needs the resources to meaningfully implement and enforce the new rules that Congress directed it to write. Those rules are essential to the mission of bringing basic standards of transparency and safety to markets that, left unchecked, were at the heart of the financial crisis that did so much damage to our economy.”

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AFR Statement on House Approval of HR 3193

“Many millions of people have already benefited from the Consumer Bureau’s rules, enforcement actions and online complaint system. Polls show that a large majority of Americans strongly approve of what this important new agency has been doing… And yet, 232 members of the House of Representatives voted today for legislation designed to systematically undermine this first-ever federal agency with a mandate to prioritize fairness and transparency over short-term financial-industry profits.”

Lawmakers Back DOJ Crackdown on Illegal Use of Bank Payment Systems

“Department enforcement plays a critical role in ensuring banks and payment processors meet [their] legal obligations,” the lawmakers say in a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder. “Unfortunately, recent cases demonstrate the seriousness of the consequences when those obligations are not met. Accordingly, we urge the Department to enforce vigorously applicable laws pertaining to payment fraud, money-laundering, and other illegal payments…”