Americans for Financial Reform

News Category: Blog

Banking Regulators Are Making it Easier for Big Banks to Hide Risks

The Federal Reserve recently weakened the rating system it uses to supervise the country’s largest banks, making it easier for banks to pursue riskier investments that could imperil the financial system. These ratings help determine whether giant financial institutions are considered “well managed.” Banks that keep that label can pursue acquisitions, take on more risks, and expand into a broader range of activities.

Trump Administration’s Banking Deregulation Puts Entire Economy at Risk

Financial headlines these days are dominated by chaos and uncertainty. Families across the country face soaring prices that have only gotten worse with the war in Iran. Worries abound over an artificial intelligence bubble, oil price shocks, gyrations in crypto, and rising default rates in the private credit markets. And economists have said that we

AFREF Commentary: 4 Reasons Why We Should Ban the Use of Credit Scores in Property Insurance

While people might assume that insurance companies set their property insurance rates solely or primarily by evaluating the risk profile of individual homes, a homeowner’s credit characteristics are often a bigger driver of the price of homeowner’s insurance. As Federal Reserve researchers put it in a new report, insurers often price rates for “who is living in the house rather than the risk of the house.”