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Letter to Congress: AFR Opposes The Financial CHOICE Act

“On behalf of Americans for Financial Reform (AFR), we are writing to express our very grave concerns about the “Financial CHOICE Act” and to urge you to oppose this measure. Passage of this legislation would have a devastating effect on the ability of regulators to protect consumers and investors from exploitation and the economy from financial risk. It would expose consumers, investors, and the public to greatly heightened risk of abuse in their regular dealings with the financial system, and our economy as a whole to heightened risk of instability and crisis. “

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Letters to Congress: AFR urges support for the U.S. Territories Investor Protection Act of 2016

AFR support the U.S. Territories Investor Protection Act of 2016 to close an egregious, decades-old loophole that exempted companies in Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and any other United States territory from the Investment Company Act of 1940 – a loophole that denied residents the basic investor protections afforded to residents of the mainland United States.

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New AFR/CRL poll: By a 3 to 1 margin, voters of all parties support restoring right to consumer class actions

“A recent poll conducted by Lake Research Partners and Chesapeake Beach Consulting finds voters strongly support restoring consumers’ right to bring class action lawsuits against banks and lenders instead of being forced to take individual cases to an arbitrator of the lender’s choosing. After hearing an argument for and against, voters of all political parties express majority support for federal action to restore these rights.”

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Letter to Regulators: AFR Comments on Consultative Document that would Change Derivatives Risk Exposure

“Americans for Financial Reform (“AFR”) appreciates the opportunity to comment on the above mentioned Consultative Document. Among other issues, this Consultative Document proposes to change the measurement of derivatives risk exposures for leverage ratio purposes by replacing the Current Exposure Method (CEM) used today with the Standardized Approach to Counterparty Credit Risk (SA-CCR). The document implies that the SA-CCR has a more realistic approach to risk measurement, while the CEM is more conservative.”

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Joint Statement: New Bipartisan Poll: By a 3 to 1 Margin Voters Support Restoring Right to Consumer Class Actions and Ending Wall Street’s ‘Get-Out-of-Jail-Free’ Card

“A new national poll found that, by a margin of 3 to 1, voters strongly support restoring consumers’ right to join together to take legal action against banks and other financial services companies that break the law. With the House of Representatives set to vote today on a multi-agency appropriations bill with riders that would strip the CFPB’s authority to act on forced arbitration, voters of all political parties express majority support for federal action to restrict the practice. “

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Poll: 71 percent of Americans Support Regulation of Payday Lenders

“According to a new poll, conducted by GBA Strategies on behalf of Americans for Financial Reform, the Center for Responsible Lending, the National Council of La Raza, and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, just 3 percent of registered voters have a favorable opinion of payday lenders. Yes, even used car salesmen and Wall Street banks are more well-liked than payday lenders.”

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AFR Statement: AFR Welcomes Promising Changes to the Federal Housing Administration’s Distressed Mortgage Sales

“Americans for Financial Reform (AFR) and many members of our coalition and allies have long pressed for significant changes to the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) sales of distressed mortgages so that the program better serves homeowners and communities, and we welcome yesterday’s announcement of a number of promising reforms. “