AFR Statement: Trump Hands Financial Regulation Over To Wall Street
We can, and will, fight at every step against Wall Street burning it all down — again. And we’ll fight for a financial system that serves an economy that works for the rest of us.
AFR in the News: Maine robo-signing scandal resurfaces with Treasury nomination (Portland Press-Herald)
“‘Steve Mnuchin said his bank did not robo-sign. Now we have yet another round of evidence that it did,” said Lisa Donner, executive director of Americans for Financial Reform. ‘The public deserves clear answers, and all senators should be demanding them. We do not need, and they should not support, a Treasury Secretary who thinks the rules do not apply to himself or to his partners on Wall Street.’”
AFR IN THE NEWS: Trump Begins Assault on Dodd-Frank Financial Regulations (NY Times)
“‘The administration apparently plans to turn over financial regulation to Wall Street titan Goldman Sachs, and make it easier for them and other big banks like Wells Fargo to steal from their customers and destabilize the economy,’ said Lisa Donner, executive director of Americans for Financial Reform, an advocacy group that supports Dodd-Frank. ‘That betrays the promises Trump made to stand up to Wall Street, and it will have dire consequences if he’s successful.’”
AFR Statement: Trump Turns Wall Street Regulation Over To Goldman Sachs
“The Administration apparently plans to turn over financial regulation to Wall Street titan Goldman Sachs, and make it easier for them and other big banks like Wells Fargo to steal from their customers and destabilize the economy. That betrays the promises Trump made to stand up the Wall Street, and It will have dire consequences if he’s successful. But the President does not have the authority to overturn laws or tell independent agencies what to do. And it’s flat-out illegal for the agencies to change rules by fiat without public input.”
AFR in the News: Doing Its Job – and Under Attack (Morning Consult)
“[The CFPB] has been fulfilling its mission, without letting itself be cowed by Wall Street or captured by revolving-door insiders. That’s why it’s under attack, and why it urgently needs to be defended.”
AFR Statement: Senators should oppose the nomination of Steven Mnuchin
“The majority on the Senate Finance Committee has chosen to ignore lies and evasions, to ram through a nomination in defiance of its own procedures, and to all vote YES despite both the known facts about Steven Mnuchin’s bank’s abusive and sometimes illegal foreclosure practices, and serious unanswered questions on this and other matters. The minority on the committee did the right thing in demanding responses before a vote, every remaining Senator should demand the same before a floor vote is scheduled, and they should vote no when it comes before them. The country needs a Treasury Secretary who will stand up for the public interest, not another representative of Wall Street in government.”
AFR Statement: AFR Urges the Senate to Reject Betsy DeVos for Education Secretary
“It is crucial that any nominee for Education Secretary of the Department of Education not only affirm the need to enforce existing rules that seek to protect both students and taxpayers from fraud, but also clearly articulate plans to rapidly pursue additional automatic group discharges. Betsy DeVos has done neither. Americans for Financial Reform urges the members of the Senate to reject Betsy DeVos’s nomination as Secretary of the Department of Education.”
AFR IN THE NEWS: How banks and Republicans plan to kill financial reform under Trump (Slate)
“‘Critics of altering Dodd-Frank believe the signs point to a regrettable return to a pre-recession era when large banks operated without significant regulatory oversight,’ said Marcus Stanley, policy director at Americans for Financial Reform…’We had experience with Wall Street self-regulation prior to the financial crisis, and it did not work out well,’ Stanley said. ‘When you let industry determine its own rules, it’s going to create more risks. The downside of those risks is going to be pushed to taxpayers and working families.'”
AFR Statement: We Need Straight Answers from Treasury Nominee
“Mnuchin’s failure to answer questions from committee members fully and honestly is one more example of an all too familiar Wall Street pattern: that rules are for little people. That is not an acceptable approach for a Treasury Secretary. Demanding answers before this nomination is rammed through is exactly the right thing to do.”
Joint Press Release: Google Takes Down Over Five Million Payday Loan Ads
“Along with fake prescription drug peddlers, scam weight loss regimes, and sneaky malware spreaders, Google has taken down 5 million attempts to trap Americans in predatory loans since mid-July… ‘While Google’s actions are helpful and important, an internet company cannot be the main barrier to abuse by these predators. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is working on smart, fair and flexible rules that, if finalized, will protect Americans from the worst abuses of payday lending. .. [I]t must not be undermined or weakened by the payday industry and their allies who want to keep getting away with debt trap 300% loans.’”