New report providing a snapshot of how every member of Congress voted on consumer protections, climate financial regulation, Wall Street, and financial industry legislative measures during the first session of the 118th Congress.
Americans for Financial Reform recently joined several consumer protection organizations in an amicus brief in Chamber of Commerce v. CFPB, which was filed by Democracy Forward in the 5th Circuit in August 2024. This brief supports the CFPB’s 2022 clarification in its Supervision and Examination Manual that “discriminatory acts or practices” in the provision of financial services may be “unfair” under the Dodd-Frank Act. The brief asks the 5th Circuit to reverse the judgment of the district court, and hold that the CFPB has statutory authority to consider discriminatory conduct an “unfair” practice.
Americans for Financial Reform Education Fund filed an amicus brief in the 8th Circuit. View or download a PDF of the brief here. Americans for Financial Reform Education Fund joined Environmental Defense Fund, Natural Resources Defense Council, Sierra Club, and Sierra Club Foundation in an
AFREF, in partnership with the Institute for Policy Studies, has released a report on the 2022 CHIPS and Science Act’s $39 billion in subsidies for semiconductor manufacturing, and specifically on the Biden administration’s decision to grant preferential treatment in the awarding of these subsidies to firms that agree to forgo all stock buybacks for five years.
AFREF, in partnership with Capital Strategies for the Common Good, the Private Equity Stakeholder Project, and Bargaining for the Common Good, have produced a report highlighting how, in recent decades, housing has become increasingly commodified and financialized, while tenants in communities across the country are being crushed under unsustainable rent burdens and a shortage of affordable housing.
The $35 billion takeover bid would vault Capital One into 6th place among the biggest U.S. banks and create the largest U.S. credit card lender, ahead of current leader JPMorgan Chase. This new company could raise prices for cardholders, especially lower-income consumers and Black and Latine households and give Capital One the power to jack up debit card fees on merchants. In short, it would reinforce the megabank monopoly power that is already a serious problem in the American economy. The Biden administration must stand up for consumers, communities, and small businesses and block the Capital One-Discover merger.
New report highlights stark discrepancy between Brookfield’s reported emissions and its actual carbon footprint.
From A for Ambulance to Z for Zamboni, this book takes the reader on an alphabetical journey through the myriad ways that private equity has encroached into most parts of everyday life.
Wells Fargo, the San Francisco-based megabank, has been embroiled in a series of scandals, lawsuits, and customer abuses over the past decade. Despite public outrage and legal actions, the bank’s executives have failed to address the issues adequately. They have been accused of lying to Congress, neglecting shareholder complaints, and evading accountability for their wrongdoings while claiming to make improvements.
The Federal Reserve’s deregulatory and light touch approach to regulation and supervision paved the way for the bank failures that have shaken the financial system this year and that led to extraordinary government intervention to preserve financial stability. Below we suggest a set of changes the Fed can make without Congressional action that would increase financial stability and put the welfare of the public ahead of the narrow interests of big banks and Wall Street.