Americans for Financial Reform

AFR Fact Sheet: U.S. Economy Growing Faster Since Dodd-Frank Was Passed

“In recent years bank lobbyists have started to blame Wall Street regulatory reforms such as those
passed in the Doddd-Frank Act for slow economic growth. But the claim that better financial
oversight is responsible for a poor economic recovery has no foundation. It ignores not only the
devastating economic costs of the financial crisis itself, but key facts about the performance of
the U.S. economy and the profitability of the financial sector since Dodd-Frank passed.”

AFR in the News: Investment advice? Or sales pitch? New rule will make that clear

“Faced with the prospect that millions of Americans will run out of money in retirement and become a burden on government, the U.S. government took action last year to try to take some confusion out of the advice business. The Department of Labor is imposing what’s known as the ‘fiduciary rule’ to improve the chances that when an adviser gives money advice it’s actually untainted advice — best for you, and not a disguised sales pitch.”

Letter to Congress: Oppose HR 78 The SEC Regulatory Accountability Act

“This legislation is transparently an effort to paralyze the SEC and to empower Wall Street lawyers to overturn its decisions, not to improve its analysis or decision making. …The most prominent new requirement would mandate that the SEC identify every “available alternative” to a proposed regulation or agency action and quantitatively measure the costs and benefits of each such alternative prior to taking action. …In addition to the enormous task of identifying and analyzing every available alternative to a course of action, the agency would be required to perform half a dozen new analyses in addition to its current requirements concerning market efficiency, competition, and capital formation. These new requirements include analyses of effects on small business, market liquidity, state and local government, investor choice, and “market participants”. Notably, no new requirements concerning the protection of investors or preventing another financial crash are included. …We urge you to reject it.”

Letter to Congress: Oppose HR 238 The Commodity End User Relief Act

“By freezing the CFTC’s funding at its current inadequate level for the next five years, this legislation exacerbates the agency’s most fundamental problem – a lack of resources to accomplish its mission. After the 2008 financial crisis, the CFTC became newly responsible for hundreds of trillions of dollars in previously unregulated swaps markets. …Even as it fails to address the pressing problem of funding, HR 238 would also load down the CFTC with additional mandates that would drain resources and act as a roadblock to necessary oversight and enforcement.

AFR Statement: CFPB, state attorneys general fight for student borrowers in lawsuit against Navient

We welcome the news that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau took action to protect student loan borrowers today by suing Navient for steering struggling borrowers toward paying more than they had to on their loans. The Bureau is joined by state attorneys general from Illinois and Washington, who today both filed their own lawsuits. This action makes clear why we need a strong, independent CFPB under the leadership of Director Cordray, whose work is putting billions of dollars back in the pockets of the people who earned them, rather than the coffers of companies who stole from them.

AFR/CFA Report: Brokers and Insurers Say One Thing in Ads, Another Thing in Contracts

“Twenty-five top U.S. brokerage firms and insurance companies present their employees as trusted financial advisors putting client interests first even as their lobbyists argue in court that they are nothing more than commission-driven salespeople, according to a major new report from the Consumer Federation of America (CFA) and Americans for Financial Reform (AFR). The report also dissects how brokerage firms and insurance companies are systematically misleading unwary consumers.”

Letter to Regulators: AFR Comment on Special Purpose National Bank Charters for Fintech Companies

We along with more than 250 organizations separately submitted a letter urging the OCC to refrain from issuing charters to nondepository fintech lenders because doing so would enable the chartered entities to avoid state interest rate caps and other state consumer protection laws, as well as state oversight, thereby putting consumers and small businesses at risk.

Press Release: More than 25% of consumers contacted by debt collectors feel threatened, CFPB reports

“In tens of millions of cases, debt collectors reportedly engaged in conduct barred by the Federal Debt Collections Practices Act. Nearly 40 percent of consumers reported that a debt collector had attempted contact four or more times a week. More than one third of consumers reported being contacted between 9 pm and 8 am. Three in four consumers said that debt collectors had failed to honor a request to cease contact.”

Joint Letter to Regulators: More Than 250 Groups Urge OCC Not to Offer Fintech Charters

“State laws often operate as the primary line of defense for consumers and small businesses; thus, the proposal puts them at great risk. The OCC must not undermine state rate caps. Interest rate caps are the simplest, most effective way to protect borrowers from unaffordable, high-rate loans and to align the interests of lenders and borrowers.”

AFR Statement: AFR applauds automatic debt discharges at ACI, calls for further action

Americans for Financial Reform (AFR) applauds the news that the Department of Education will grant automatic discharges to all former students of American Career Institute (ACI) in Massachusetts. Before being confirmed, any nominee for Secretary of the Department of Education must clearly articulate plans to rapidly pursue additional automatic group discharges, to ensure that all Americans are protected from future exploitation of taxpayer-backed loans by predatory schools.