AFR in the News: Progressive Groups Criticize CFPB Fintech Proposal (Politico)
“A coalition of 50 public interest groups today sharply criticized the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s proposal to gut important consumer-protection rules, especially for fintech companies, arguing the agency does not have the authority to create potentially unlimited exemptions from the very regulations that the CFPB is obligated to enforce.”
Letters to Regulators: Letter to the CFPB in Opposition to Trial Disclosure Programs
AFR joined a letter to the CFPB opposing their proposed policy to encourage trial disclosure programs.
Letter To Regulators: Civil Rights, Consumer Groups Seek Blankenstein Ouster from CFPB
We, the undersigned organizations, call on you to abandon your proposed reorganization of the
Office of Fair Lending and Equal Opportunity, and to remove Mr. Eric Blankenstein from having
any involvement in the Bureau’s oversight and enforcement of antidiscrimination laws. We have
long voiced strong concerns about your plans to relocate the Office of Fair Lending, and our
concerns have grown even stronger in light of the shocking revelations about Mr. Blankenstein’s
writings on issues of race.
New Report: The Volcker Rule: Its Past, Present, and Uncertain Future
Americans for Financial Reform Education Fund published a new report describing the history of the Volcker Rule and the efforts of the financial industry to undermine it. The Volcker Rule is a central element of post-crisis financial regulation that is intended to be a modern
Letters to Regulators: AFR Education Fund sent a letter to the Federal Reserve urging regulators to reject misguided recommendations regarding the implementation of S.2155.
October 1, 2018 Americans for Financial Reform Education Fund (AFR Education Fund), sent a letter to the Federal Reserve in response to the recent letter from Senator Perdue and others. The Perdue letter urges regulators to view the implementation of S. 2155 as requiring extensive
Letters to Congress: Eight Organizations Sent Joint Letter Urging A Vote Against H.R. 5381
September 27, 2018 Americans for Financial Reform sent a letter on behalf of the undersigned organizations, urging to Representatives to vote against HR 5381, the “GRATER Act”. HR 5381 mandates that Federal agencies transfer all credit and guarantee risk assumed by the government to the
News Release: Blankenstein Views Part of Mulvaney Agenda of Enabling Discrimination
Mulvaney chose Blankenstein as the policy associate director for supervision, enforcement, and fair lending. Under Mulvaney the CFPB has restructured the main office for fair lending, expressed interest in moving away from a key legal test for fair lending, and curbed enforcement of rules on predatory lenders that often target communities of color.
Take Action: It’s Past Time for Congress to Break up the Banks
The banks that caused the 2008 financial crisis with their greed and recklessness are even bigger now than they were ten years ago. Separating risky investment banking and “boring” commercial banking will help prevent financial crises – and bailouts – and refocus banks on serving their customers. Not only would this make bank activities less risky, it would make the institutions smaller, breaking up megabanks and leveling the playing field for smaller banks.
News Release: Consumer Groups Criticize SEC Investor-Protection Proposal During Agency Roundtable in Baltimore
The SEC’s proposed “Regulation Best Interest” is anything but, a plan for creating a veneer of investor protection that would fail to chase bad practices out of the industry that cost savers $40 billion per year. Many savers fall victim to brokers who steer them into investments that pay lucrative fees but don’t generate the best possible return for investors.