Americans for Financial Reform

Letter to Regulators: AFR, 10 Orgs Urge Treasury, FinCEN to Complete the Anti-Money Laundering Rule for Asset Managers

“In this last year of the Obama Administration, this proposed rule deserves priority attention for strengthening a key U.S. defense against money laundering that furthers terrorism, drug trafficking, organized crime, and tax evasion. It would close a major, decade-old gap that has allowed hedge funds, private equity funds, and other big investment firms to accept substantial funds with no questions asked, to facilitate the transfer of offshore funds into the United States without determining their source, and to witness troubling transactions with no legal obligation to report them.”

AFR in the News: GE says lending unit shouldn’t face strict federal oversight (Washington Post)

“The [Metlife] decision is ‘really potentially damaging to the framework Dodd Frank set up to oversee nonfinancial institutions,’ said Marcus Stanley, policy director for Americans for Financial Reform. If the ruling is upheld, ‘FSOC would have a very hard time designating anybody in the future, even when they truly do pose risk to the financial system…'”

AFR Statement: AFR Statement on Metlife Decision

“We are disappointed that a single Federal district court judge has overturned the decision of the Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC), which voted 9-1 to designate Metlife for additional Federal Reserve oversight. “

Letter to Regulators: AFR Supports SEC Proposal to Restrict Derivatives Use at Mutual Funds

“… for many years the SEC did not sufficiently address the ways in which Investment Company Act restrictions can be violated through the use of derivatives. The SEC’s basic approach to derivatives risk at funds was set out in a series of releases and no-action letters between 1979 and the late 1980s. The fundamental approach adopted at that time was based on ‘offsetting’ or ‘coverage’ – that is, if a fund segregates assets deemed sufficient to ‘cover’ a derivatives risk, or an offsetting derivatives exposure, then derivatives usage would not violate ’40 Act limitations.”

AFR in the News: Corinthian students may have a clearer path towards debt relief (Washington Post)

“The pace of relief for wronged Corinthian students…remains far too slow, and its scope frustratingly narrow,” said Alexis Goldstein, senior policy analyst at the progressive Americans for Financial Reform. She pointed out that only students who took out loans after July 2010 are eligible for debt cancellation, which excludes borrowers with old bank-based federal student loans.

AFR in the News: Corinthian students may have a clearer path towards debt relief (Washington Post)

“The pace of relief for wronged Corinthian students…remains far too slow, and its scope frustratingly narrow,” said Alexis Goldstein, senior policy analyst at the progressive Americans for Financial Reform. She pointed out that only students who took out loans after July 2010 are eligible for debt cancellation, which excludes borrowers with old bank-based federal student loans.

AFR Statement: Department of Education must expedite and broaden relief to Corinthian students

“We join with the advocates, lawmakers, and law enforcement officials who have all called on the Department use its legal authority to discharge debts of students covered by the Department’s enforcement actions without further delay and without requiring each borrower to make an individual application.”

Letter to Regulators: Regulators Must Not Weaken Dodd-Frank Regulations in the Regulatory Review Process

“On behalf of Americans for Financial Reform, we are writing with regard to your current review of bank safety and soundness rules under the Economic Growth and Regulatory Paperwork Reduction Act of 1996 (EGRPRA) Notice #4 (December 23, 2015)… Reviewing these rules before they are finalized and while the process of implementation is still ongoing also carries the risk that the burden of implementation will be mistaken for the permanent effects of the rule.”

Letter to Regulators: Doing Better by Mortgage Applicants Who Are Not Fluent in English

“Allowing mortgage applicants to choose in which language they are most comfortable in communicating addresses a major problem of lenders and servicers working with limited English proficiency (LEP) populations and collecting this information through the URLA is the most comprehensive way to do so, because every mortgage borrower fills one out.”

AFR in the News: Coalition of Unions, Consumer Groups Press Regulators on Bank “Living Wills” (Wall St. Journal)

“Tuesday’s letter to the Fed and FDIC from Americans for Financial Reform… is the latest evidence that the agencies could face some backlash if their verdict is favorable to the industry. The coalition includes large unions and public interest groups with powerful pull in Washington… The coalition asks that regulators, if they decline to find banks’ plans not credible, provide the public with a detailed explanation of improvements banks have made in the living wills since the firms failed to pass regulatory muster in 2014.”