“‘“Quarles is an insider. He has been an insider for decades to both Wall Street and the inside-Washington sort of swamp ― the Wall Street-Washington nexus,’ said Marcus Stanley, policy director of Americans for Financial Reform.”
“‘Forced arbitration deprives victims of not only their day in court, but the right to band together with other targets of corporate lawbreaking. It’s a get-out-of-jail-free card for lawbreakers,’ said Lisa Donner, executive director of Americans for Financial Reform. ‘The consumer agency’s rule will stop Wall Street and predatory lenders from ripping people off with impunity, and make markets fairer and safer for ordinary Americans.’”
Arbitration rule letter
Americans for Financial Reform submitted comments to the Department of Education in strong opposition to any delay to or re-opening of the Borrower Defense to Repayment and Gainful Employment regulations. The Department of Education (the “Department”) has already conduced the arduous process of negotiated rulemaking on both of these rules, where all constituencies were able to weigh in. Establishing new negotiated rulemakings on these rules is a waste of taxpayer money and government resources.
“Mr. Quarles was part of the regulatory team at the Bush Treasury Department that missed the oncoming 2008 financial crisis and failed to take any effective action to stop that crisis. [He] did not take action or speak up against Wall Street excesses in advance of the 2008 crisis. Since the crisis he has made his opposition clear to strong regulatory action to prevent the re-emergence of the same risks in the future… The American people need and deserve better in this critical post.”
“Americans for Financial Reform (AFR) appreciates the opportunity to provide this statement for the record of this Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit Subcommittee hearing, which considers several bills that would significantly undermine consumer financial protection and the safety and soundness of the financial system. Although the hearing is entitled “Examining Legislative Proposals to Provide Targeted Regulatory Relief to Community Financial Institutions,” the bills under consideration are not focused principally on community financial institutions. The most sweeping provisions of these bills apply to all institutions, many of which would radically decrease oversight of the nation’s largest banks and increase the risk of harm to the public.”
“The task force is co-chaired by Robert S. Eitel, a former attorney at for-profit college operator Bridgepoint Education, who is now senior counsel to DeVos… ‘At no point are they asking for the input of student loan borrowers or people enrolled in college,’ said Alexis Goldstein, senior policy analyst at the progressive Americans for Financial Reform. “The common theme here is enriching a certain number of private actors at the expense of protections for borrowers.”
CFPB issued a final regulation ensuring that consumers can join together to challenge financial fraud and scams in court. The rule limits the use of forced arbitration, a process Wall Street banks and predatory lenders use to evade accountability and keep their misconduct out of the public eye.
Today at a public hearing at the Department of Education, AFR’s senior policy analyst gave testimony about the need to enforce the Borrower Defense and Gainful Employment regulations, not to reopen or dismantle them. Here is her testimony, as prepared for delivery: “I can’t believe
The slide presentation linked below documents AFR’s findings on the 2017 CCAR stress tests. AFR Assessing the 2017 Stress Tests A Medium blog post is also available here: https://medium.com/@RealBankReform/stress-tests-less-stressful-than-ever-fbe68b8e161a