WASHINGTON, D.C. – A wide ranging coalition of 47 consumer, civil rights, and economic justice organizations called on the White House today to finalize a proposal by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to protect borrowers from excessive credit card late fees.
Washington, D.C. – A new survey by a bipartisan set of pollsters, Lake Research Partners and Chesapeake Beach Consulting reveals support for tough regulation of the financial services industry and acute alarm at Wall Street’s move to buy up health care companies.
Washington, D.C. – The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ decision requiring disclosure of nursing home ownership by real estate investment trusts (REIT) and private equity firms is an essential step towards enhancing transparency and accountability in the healthcare industry.
Washington, D.C. — Upcoming reforms to the Federal Home Loan Bank System will provide greater and more equitable public benefits under a detailed roadmap released last week by their regulator, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA). The welcome reform agenda is the result of national engagement of stakeholders on FHLBanks, for-profit entities that receive significant indirect public subsidies.
Washington, D.C. – More than 100 consumer protection, civil rights and organized labor organizations filed a comment asking the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) to create a rule to restore the right of all Americans to decide to file a case in court rather than be forced into arbitration by big banks and other financial services corporations.
Washington, D.C. – Americans for Financial Reform Education Fund and 21 allied organizations submitted a letter urging the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to pass the strongest possible rule mandating minimum staffing standards for long-term care facilities (CMS–3442–P). The letter also highlights the role of private equity firms, which own 11% of US nursing homes, and their particularly harmful business practices, like understaffing, that detract from resident care.
Washington, D.C. – House Republicans are moving forward with a funding bill (H.R. 4664) that would undermine much-needed consumer protections, roll back hard-fought reforms of Wall Street, and hamper our country’s ability to address the financial risks from climate change.
Federal agencies should move swiftly to identify systemically important financial institutions (SIFIs) for heightened scrutiny now that they have finalized a process for this designation process, according to Americans for Financial Reform Education Fund.
Treasury’s Federal Insurance Office (FIO) took an important initial step this week toward understanding how climate change is affecting homeowners insurers’ coverage and pricing decisions for consumers. Disappointingly, the notice of data collection was scaled back from earlier proposals, omitting queries critical to fully understanding the nature of the ongoing insurance crisis.
Washington, D.C. – The following steering group members of the Save Our Retirement coalition – AARP, AFL-CIO, AFSCME, Americans for Financial Reform, Better Markets, Center for American Progress, Consumer Federation of America, Economic Policy Institute, and Pension Rights Center – commended the public release of the Department of Labor’s (DOL) proposed rule to protect Americans from conflicts of interest when financial professionals give retirement investment advice: