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AFR in the News: SEC Rule to Limit Derivatives Alarms Industry With Liquidity Concerns (Morning Consult)

“A Securities and Exchange Commission proposal to place caps on registered investment firms’ exposures to derivatives is showing the hallmarks of a classic Washington battle — the industry is trying to tamp down advocacy groups’ requests for broad regulations. Although the SEC hasn’t announced its plans, lobbyists who have been watching the derivatives rule expect the agency to move forward in the coming months. Watchdog groups like Better Markets and Americans for Financial Reform have championed the proposal…”

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AFR in the News: Introducing the new sheriff of Wall Street (Financial Times)

“The bad news, for Ms Warren’s supporters, is that new laws will be hard to pass. The good news is that the existing laws, including Dodd-Frank and the SEC’s governing legislation, already give future appointees all the authority they will need. What they do not believe they need is Wall Street experience. Marcus Stanley, policy director of the union-backed Americans for Financial Reform, the investor group, speaks for many progressives in stating: ‘We are reversing the status quo of many decades.’”

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AFR in the News: There Are Real Reasons to Bring Back Glass-Steagall (American Banker)

AFR’s Marcus Stanley writes: “The 2008 crisis was catastrophic for the global economy not simply because nonbank financial institutions failed, but because the problems in nonbanks spread throughout the financial system and threatened to bring down giant megabanks that combined commercial and investment banking, such as Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America. Glass-Steagall firewalls between Wall Street trading markets and ordinary commercial banking are directly relevant to stopping this kind of contagion.”

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Letter to Regulators: AFR Urges the CFPB to Restrict Forced Arbitration

“Americans for Financial Reform (“AFR”) appreciates this opportunity to comment on the above referenced proposed rule (the “Rule”) by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (the “CFPB” or “Bureau”) to restrict the use of forced arbitration clauses in consumer finance contracts. Forced arbitration is a system designed to leave consumers with no practical ability to enforce their most basic rights and protections.”

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Joint Letter: AFR and 280 Allies Strongly Support CFPB Action Against Forced Arbitration

“The undersigned… organizations strongly support the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB)’s proposed rule to limit pre-dispute binding mandatory (or forced) arbitration clauses in consumer finance contracts. The CFPB rule, which will restore consumers’ ability to band together in court to pursue claims, is a significant step forward in the ongoing fight to curb predatory practices in consumer financial products and services and to make these markets fairer and safer. “

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AFR in the News: How Predatory Payday Lenders Plot to Fight Government Regulation

“VICE has obtained exclusive transcripts of this year’s annual meeting of the Community Financial Services Association of America… at the Atlantis Paradise Island Resort. That’s where lenders were taught exactly what it might take to beat back an existential threat to their business. Trapping people in unaffordable debt is ‘their business model,’ said Gynnie Robnett [of] Americans for Financial Reform… ‘And they seem determined to preserve it, any weasel-y way they can.'”

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Letter to Regulators: AFR Comments to SEC on Corporate and Financial Disclosures

“This extensive concept release poses many questions concerning technical and detailed issues of disclosure. It is also part of a larger set of efforts relevant to financial disclosures, including the Disclosure Effectiveness Initiative, the Reg S-K study mandated by the JOBS Act, the recent proposed changes to materiality standards by the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB), and the lengthy and highly technical proposed rule on Disclosure Update and Simplification released on July 13th.”

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AFR Statement: Trump economic plan would block progress on financial reform

Speaking in Detroit on August 8, Donald Trump outlined the very broad brushstrokes of an economic plan that included a “temporary moratorium on new agency regulations.” Such a moratorium would block the implementation of crucial Dodd-Frank rules that have yet to be written or put into final effect. It would also slam the brakes on many ongoing efforts to protect American consumers. Proceeding with these much-needed financial regulations is vital not just to the economic security of American families, but also to the economic stability of the country as a whole.