AFR’s senior policy analyst Alexis Goldstein joined Democracy Now! to discuss the dangers of S. 2155, a bill the Senate is considering that would encourage discrimination in lending, roll back rules on large U.S. and giant foreign banks, and make further bailouts more likely.
“[The consumer provisions in the bill] are ‘tokens,’ said Americans for Financial Reform, a Washington, D.C.-based advocacy group pushing for greater financial reform, tacked on to provide cover to a bill that is mainly about financial sector ‘giveaways.'”
“Lisa Donner, executive director of Americans for Financial Reform, used Thursday’s disclosures to argue against Trump administration efforts to roll back financial regulations: ‘Mounting evidence of just how pervasively and systematically Wells Fargo has abused consumers is a powerful argument for more robust regulation and enforcement to hold big banks accountable.’”
“The financial services industry pumped a record $2bn of campaign contributions into the political system in the two years leading up to the 2016 elections. And the flood of cash has continued, with a particular focus on senators whose votes will be decisive. The influence that money buys is creating a massive shift away from the moderate reforms made in and around Dodd-Frank, which were making the system safer and helping consumers and investors keep billions of dollars each year that an already profitable industry would otherwise siphon off.”
“Marcus Stanley, policy director for Americans for Financial Reform, said he was glad to see the authority embraced in the report, but alarmed by specifics of the bankruptcy recommendations that he said ‘would create special privileges for big banks, rely on unrealistic assumptions, and in their current form would likely increase risks to the financial system.'”
“This isn’t the first drastic turnaround for the CFPB under Mulvaney. Last month, the agency canned rules that made it harder for payday lenders to make high-interest loans — and automatically pull funds — from borrowers. ‘Mick Mulvaney wants to let Equifax off the hook for its reckless abuse and negligence that may have a lasting impact on millions of Americans,’ [said] Lisa Donner, executive director of Americans for Financial Reform.”