Americans for Financial Reform

News Category: Press Releases & Statements

AFR, Public Citizen, and 45,874 Americans Ask Senator Dodd to Support Reform

The following letter was delivered to Senator Dodd on February 23, 2010 by Public Citizen, a partner of Americans for Financial Reform.  AFR’s coalition helped direct consumers toward this pro-reform petition which was signed by 45,874 Americans.  For more information about the petition, see the links at the bottom of this page. Dear Sen. Dodd,

AFR Calls on Senate to Maintain Strong Corporate Governance Reforms

For immediate release February 24, 2010 AFR Calls on Senate to Maintain Strong Corporate Governance Reforms Says Board Failures a Key Factor in Financial Meltdown; Questions Credibility of U.S. Chamber of Commerce-led Opposition WASHINGTON, D.C. – With the U.S. Senate poised to move forward on major financial reform legislation this week, Americans for Financial Reform

New York Times: White House in New Push for Changes on Wall Street

An article in yesterday’s New York Times talked about new efforts from the White House on behalf of financial reform legislation. The Obama administration redoubled its efforts on Tuesday to overhaul the nation’s financial regulations, saying it would not back down from its efforts to restrict the trading activities of banks and to create a

Former Regulator Talks Fraud and the Big Bank Getaway on PBS “NewsHour”

Paul Solman from PBS “NewsHour” recently interviewed former bank regulator Bill Black about his opinion regarding the effects of deregulation of financial products. Bill Black talks about the way that bad practices have been ignored by bank regulators and notes that, “In the savings and loan crisis, where the national commission finds that the typical

Credit CARD Act Regulations Became Effective Monday But the Fight is Not Over

On Monday, February 22, the long-awaited and long-needed changes laid down by the Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility, and Disclosure (CARD) Act went into effect.  When the bill was passed last May, it was the first time meaningful credit card legislation had ever been passed on the federal level.  Previously, some weak disclosure rules were put

New York Times: Modest Reform Won’t Do It

A recent editorial in the New York Times talked about the need for sweeping financial reform in order to effectively deal with the nation’s economic problems, and the hurdles that reform legislation must face as it moves through the Senate.  It said: Nearly a year ago, as the Obama administration issued a first draft of