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AFR IN THE NEWS: Embattled bankers embrace Trump’s call for deregulation: ‘Profit is not a four-letter word.’ (Washington Post)

“’They are doing great under the current system,’ said Marcus Stanley, policy director for Americans for Financial Reform.
The country’s nearly 6,000 banks — from large players such as Bank of America to the small community and regional banks packed into the hotel conference room — pulled in more than $171 billion in profits last year — a new record, according to recently released Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. data. Wall Street bonuses rose for the first time in three years in 2016 to an average of $138,210, and big banks such as Goldman Sachs have seen their stock prices surge since Trump’s election, even after a pullback this week.
Ballentine, the lobbyist, told bankers they should not be embarrassed by that success. ‘Profit is not a four-letter word. You’re supposed to be profitable,’ he said.”

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Joint Letter to Congress: 50+ Organizations Urge Congress to Keep Rules That Protect Students and Taxpayers from Waste and Fraud in Higher Education

“We believe protections for student and taxpayers should be strengthened, not scaled back. …Veterans, low-income students and students of color have been disproportionately harmed by predatory colleges. Last month, 16 organizations representing millions of military servicemembers, veterans, survivors, and military families voiced their strong support for these protections and urged Congress to fully uphold them.”

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Written Testimony: The CFPB’s Structure is Constitutional and Effective

“The first five-and-a-half years of the CFPB’s history has vindicated the decisions that Congress made in 2010 to create a strong independent agency to protect consumers from fraud and abuse in the financial marketplace. …It’s action have begun to reform the industry by making banks andother financial services companies more attentive to consumers’ rights…”

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Letter to Regulators: 34 Organizations Call For Stronger Protections For Consumers with Limited English Proficiency Against Abusive Debt Collection

This letter addresses the CFPB’s proposal related to increasing access to the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act’s protections for Limited English Proficient (LEP) consumers. …Many of these individuals participate in the consumer credit marketplace, but may have greater difficulty navigating the market, especially when debts go into collection and consumers face the legal implications of unpaid debt.”

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AFR IN THE NEWS:Trump administration calls the structure of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau unconstitutional in filing (Washington Post)

“Some supporters of the CFPB said the director should be shielded from shifts in presidential administrations to provide a more consistent approach to regulation. ‘It is independent from the political process, just like the other bank and financial regulators,’ said Brian Simmonds Marshall, policy counsel for Americans for Financial Reform, a coalition that fights for civil rights and labor issues.”

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AFR Statement: Don’t Delay or Gut The Fiduciary Rule

Americans for Financial Reform, a broad coalition including civil rights groups, consumer advocates, community organizations, and labor unions, today called on the Trump administration to abandon its proposal to delay a planned rule that protects ordinary investors from unscrupulous financial advisers.