Americans for Financial Reform

AFR Statement: DeVos’s Education Departments is Predatory Companies First, Students Last

“The news of the Department’s scheme to grant only partial relief to scammed students is just one more piece of an abundance of evidence that the Trump Administration and the DeVos Department of ED care more for the proprietary institutions that break the law than they do for the students they defraud,” said Alexis Goldstein, Senior Policy Analyst at Americans for a Financial Reform. “For Secretary DeVos, it’s predatory companies first, students last.”

AFR/TOWS Statement: Unpopular, Harmful Tax Cuts Reward Wall Street Donors

At a time when millions of everyday Americans are struggling with stagnant wages, Republicans decided to use the tax code to reward its contributors. Polls have shown that the Republican tax bill is deeply unpopular. Voters recognize it for what it is: a giant holiday gift to Wall Street and the super rich that the rest of us will be paying off for decades.

Letter to Congress: AFR urges opposition to HR 3312 — a deregulatory gift to the largest banks in the country.

“H.R. 3312 dramatically restricts oversight of some of the largest banks in the country, increasing risks to regional economies and to financial stability, and therefore to the prosperity of families and communities.”

Letter to Congress: Protect Shareholder Rights — Oppose HR 4015

AFR sent a letter opposing a bill that would eliminate the independent voice of proxy advisory firms and unfairly disadvantage shareholders as compared to firm management.

AFR in the News: Private Equity Cashes In On Payday Lending

“[I]t is a telling sign of just how dysfunctional the American economy has become that some of the nation’s biggest private equity firms are now heavily invested in the payday loan business and its slightly more respectable cousin, subprime installment lending. A new report from Americans for Financial Reform and the Private Equity Stakeholder Project details dozens of such arrangements involving some of the biggest names on Wall Street and the scuzziest operations on Main Street.”

AFR Release: New Report Documents Deepening Links Between Payday Lending and Private Equity

Private equity moguls have invested heavily in the payday and installment lending. The development puts private equity firms in the position to profit from efforts by payday lenders to roll back an important new rule by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

AFR Report: Payday Lending and the Private Equity Business

New report offers details on over 20 cases of private equity investment in payday lending, and how the new owners or investors seek greater rewards from this predatory business.

AFR Statement: Bipartisan Senate Bill Rewards Banks While Leaving out Consumers

A bipartisan majority of lawmakers on the Senate Banking Committee last week rejected a series of public interest amendments in order to advance a bill full of gifts to banks.

Letter to Congress: AFR Opposes Multiple Deregulatory Bills Under Consideration by Financial Services Committee

AFR sent a letter to the House Financial Services Committee opposing multiple bills that would deregulate big banks and strip away investor protections. AFR Letter Re HFSC 12-12 Markup

Letter to Congress: Reject H.R. 4508, a bill that favors corporations that abuse federal aid over students

The reauthorization of the Higher Education Act should be a real opportunity to help students; instead, the PROSPER Act makes their lives worse in nearly every aspect. It raises repayment costs for struggling borrowers, lets institutions that scam students off the hook, and narrows relief for defrauded students.