Americans for Financial Reform

AFR in the News: Hillary Clinton’s plan to take on a Wall Street perk (Washington Post)

“[W]ith populist anger aimed at Wall Street during this presidential election season rising, the ‘carried interest loophole,’ which allows the managers of private-equity firms to pay a lower tax rate, is back in the spotlight. ‘This year is just different. There has been a populist surge politically in both parties,’ said Marcus Stanley, policy director for Americans for Financial Reform. ‘Having the wealthiest people in the financial system paying a lower rate than everyone else is even harder to swallow. People realize that it doesn’t have to be like this.'”

Letter to Congress: AFR, 51 organizations Oppose Riders to Weaken Student Protections

“AFR joined 51 other organizations to oppose any appropriations provision that would delay or block implementation of the Education Department’s gainful employment regulation or otherwise weaken or stall student protections from unscrupulous actors in the 2017 Commerce, Justice, Science Appropriations bill”

Letter to Congress: AFR, 48 Organizations Support DoL Retirement Rule, Oppose Veto Override to Dismantle Implementation

“As organizations that support the Department of Labor’s (DoL) rule to update and strengthen protections for retirement savers, we are writing to thank you for standing up for your hardworking constituents saving for retirement and opposing HJ Res 88, the Resolution of Disapproval that would block the rule’s implementation, when it was considered on the House floor in April. The House of Representatives is expected to vote tomorrow on whether to override President Obama’s veto of the Resolution and we ask you to again stand with your constituents and oppose the veto override. This rule is a tremendous accomplishment in the fight to improve our nation’s retirement income security and should be supported.”

AFR Statement: House committee votes to undermine Investor safeguards

“If these measures became law, long and painful experience suggests they would cause capital to move from sound and regulated investments into dangerous and unregulated investments. The net effect would be to weaken regulatory oversight, reduce transparency, and generally undermine the regulatory framework that helped make America’s financial markets the deepest, most vibrant markets in the world.”

Letter to Regulator: AFR Comments to Basel Committee On Bank Transparency

“Given the complexity of the regulations now applying to global banks, a comprehensive new set of disclosures is absolutely necessary in order to help both investors and civil society organizations such as ourselves understand bank activities. A clear and consistent set of public disclosures should also be helpful for financial regulators, who under the U.S. system do not always have access to bank supervisory data that may be relevant to the markets they oversee.”

AFR Statement: Financial deregulation is House majority’s answer to all problems

“Speaker Ryan’s plan to ‘Grow the Economy’ would roll back consumer protections affecting everything from subprime mortgages to payday loans, empower Wall Street lawyers to overturn financial regulatory rules in dozens of new ways, and eliminate post-crisis regulatory powers to control risks at the giant ‘too big to fail’ institutions that dominate Wall Street.”

AFR IN THE NEWS: Obama administration issues rules to overhaul student debt forgiveness

“‘We’re disappointed that the department is replacing the current state law standard with a federal standard that won’t be as comprehensive for borrowers that live in states with strong consumer protection laws,’ said Alexis Goldstein, senior policy analyst at the progressive Americans for Financial Reform.”

AFR Statement: The Department of Education’s Proposed Rule on Borrower Defense to Repayment

“For years, advocates have urged the Department of Education to relieve the staggering debt of students who attended for-profit colleges like Corinthian which broke the law. Today, the Department released a forward-looking proposal outlining how students who were victims of illegal acts by their school may pursue a ‘borrower defense to repayment,’ or cancellation of the debt on their federal student loans. We look forward to working with the Department to improve the final proposal so that all students victimized by unlawful and deceptive conduct receive every penny of relief they deserve.”

Letter to Regulators: AFR, 71 Orgs Submit Comment on proposed student loan “Payback Playbook”

“We commend the agencies for their work in compiling this series of potential borrower communications – the
Student Loan Payback Playbooks. It benefits borrowers, servicers, and the agencies to ensure that
federal student loan borrowers are aware of options that will make their student loan payments
affordable and allow them to remain current on their loans.”

AFR Statement: House Appropriations Bill Would Undermine Financial Reform

“The House Appropriations Committee has approved a funding bill packed with riders that would roll back financial reform and undermine consumer protection. These ideological policy provisions have no business being added to such a measure. “