AFR sent letters to the Senate Banking Committee and the House Financial Services Committee regarding a package of securities bills up for a vote. AFR supports H.R. 1366/S. 484, “The U.S. Territories Investor Protection Act”, and opposes H.R. 910 / S. 327 “The Fair Access
“Banks and other financial companies expecting big benefits from Republican-led deregulation spent record amounts on lobbying in the last election cycle… The financial sector spent $2 billion on political activity from the beginning of 2015 to the end of 2016, including $1.2 billion in campaign contributions – more than twice the amount given by any other business sector, according to the study from Americans for Financial Reform.”
During the 2015-16 election cycle, Wall Street banks and financial interests spent more than $2 billion to influence decision-making in Washington, according to a report released today by Americans for Financial Reform. That total, derived from an exclusive data set, works out to more than $2.7 million a day.
The Department of Labor’s proposal to delay the fiduciary rule is clearly part of the Trump administration’s plan to undo it altogether. Blocking this common-sense, long overdue rule, which requires retirement advisers to act in their customers’ best interests.
When it comes to the economy, unfortunately the President hasn’t drained the swamp. Instead, he is filling the government with Wall Street insiders who are now attacking rules put in place to keep big Wall Street banks and predatory lenders from ripping off consumers and prevent another disastrous financial crisis.
View or Download PDF March 1, 2017 Dear Representative: On behalf of Americans for Financial Reform, we are writing to express our opposition to HR 1009, the “OIRA Insight, Reform, and Accountability Act”. This legislation would have a crippling effect on the regulation of our financial
“Hard data on bank earnings and lending should lay to rest any notion that financial regulations are holding back the American economy, or getting in the way of American banks making money. These claims are just an excuse to to dismantle hard-won protections for consumers and financial stability.”
“’Hard data on bank earnings and lending should lay to rest any notion that financial regulations are holding back the American economy, or getting in the way of American banks making money,’ Marcus Stanley, policy director at Americans for Financial Reform, said in a statement. ‘These claims are just an excuse to dismantle hard-won protections for consumers and financial stability.’
Since the financial crisis, the banking industry has largely thrived, according to the FDIC data. “
“In a July poll [commissioned by Americans for Financial Reform and the Center for Responsible Lending], 79 percent of Democrats and 67 percent of Republicans said they supported the bureau’s mission. The election result doesn’t appear to have changed their views. In December, more than half of Trump voters opposed efforts to weaken the consumer agency.”
“Lisa Donner, executive director of Americans for Financial Reform, a coalition that supports tougher Wall Street regulations, said the delay was ‘clearly part of the administration’s plan’ to scrap the rule.
‘Blocking the common-sense, long-overdue rule, which requires retirement advisors to act in their customers’ best interests, would allow Wall Street to continue to grab more than $17 billion a year — tens of millions of dollars a day — from retiree savings,’ she said. ‘This decision is not justified by the facts, and it is a betrayal of the public interest.'”