The Take on Wall Street campaign denounced the proposed tax bills for effectively preserving the carried interest loophole for Wall Street money managers, a loophole Trump promised to close during the campaign trail.
AFR sent an opposition letter to HR 2148, which would have put loopholes in new rules designed to ensure that banks did not make excessively risky commercial real estate loans. HR 2148 Oppo letter
AFR sent an opposition letter to HR 3911, which would make currently mandatory inspections of national registered credit ratings agenices (NRSROs) such as Moody’s and Standard and Poors optional. HR 3911 Oppo letter
AFR sent a statement on a House Financial Services Committee hearing reviewing three bills. AFR Statement on 11-3 HFSC Hearing
The Take on Wall Street campaign denounces the just-unveiled tax bill as a giant giveaway to an industry whose reckless behavior led to a searing recession from which many Americans have not yet recovered.
“’President Trump had a clear choice to make today between Wall Street and the rest of us,’ said Amanda Werner of Americans for Financial Reform and Public Citizen. ‘He chose Wall Street. But the rest of us will keep fighting to restore our rights so we can fight back the next time a company like Wells Fargo or Equifax tries to rip us off and get away with it.’”
AFR sent an opposition letter to HR 1585 when it was being considered on the House floor. AFR HR 1585 Opposition Letter
“‘This vote marks a truly shameful moment in Congress,’ [AFR’s] Amanda Werner, who plays the Monopoly Man, said in a statement. ‘Just weeks after holding hearings on scandals of historic proportion, the Senate granted Equifax and Wells Fargo a Get Out of Jail Free card. Rather than pass meaningful legislation to help the 145 million Americans harmed by the data breach, a slim Republican majority chose to take away our only chance at holding financial giants accountable.’”
“The {Wells Fargo and Equifax) scandals put a human face on the practice of companies forcing customer disputes through a secret, non-judicial process… Americans for Financial Reform addressed this directly in a video featuring a woman with disabilities and a veteran, who were ripped off by Wells Fargo and then prevented from a day in court because of an arbitration clause. To pursue such cases, which typically involve small amounts of money, through arbitration, victims need to spend heavily on legal representation and hearings. As federal Judge Richard Posner of the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals once wrote in a ruling, ‘The realistic alternative to a class action is not 17 million individual suits, but zero individual suits, as only a lunatic or a fanatic sues for $30.’”
