Following the SEC meeting, Americans for Financial Reform will host a conference call with guest SEC Commissioner Robert Jackson. AFR and other groups have criticized the commission’s plan on investment advice for leaving ordinary Americans vulnerable to harmful industry practices. The call will include the AFL-CIO, AARP, and the Consumer Federation of America.
Do not be deceived by the label. The so-called “best interest” standard doesn’t require brokers to do what’s best for their customers. It will not require them to recommend the investments they reasonably believe are the best match for the customer, and it will not require them to consider costs except when comparing otherwise identical securities. That’s why state securities regulators have warned that the proposal “subverts,” rather than protects, investors’ best interests.
“An effective consumer financial protection agency saves families billions of dollars a year, and makes their economic lives more secure. It fights lending discrimination, and shuts down tricks and traps” said Lisa Donner, executive director of Americans for Financial Reform. “Unfortunately, the evidence keeps piling up that the current leadership at the agency is focused on rolling back protections and enabling bad financial actors to rip people off. It is so important that members of Congress continue pressing the CFPB to live up to its consumer protection mandate and fulfill its basic responsibilities, as the House has in passing the Consumers First Act today.”
On Wednesday, Senator Sanders (I-VT) and Representative Lee (D-CA) introduced the Inclusive Prosperity Act, a bill that would impose a sales tax of 50 cents, 10 cents, and 1/2 a cent per $100 on each trade of stock, bonds and derivatives respectively.
Read or download PDF version of the event’s agenda. Read U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown’s (D-OH) remarks on Trump Administration’s big bank rollbacks. Read or download PDF version of former Fed Governor Daniel K. Tarullo’s remarks “Taking the Stress Out of Stress Testing“ Video of the event available here. View or download Powerpoint slides presented by
Americans for Financial Reform Education Fund, as part of a coalition of civil rights, consumer, and labor groups, submitted an official comment letter to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau excoriating CFPB Director Kathy Kraninger’s proposal to gut a 2017 rule that was issued to stop payday loan debt traps. The coalition’s comment letter, submitted on the last day of the comment period, is a comprehensive rebuttal to Kraninger’s rationales for rolling back consumer protections on payday loans.