Americans for Financial Reform

Joint Statement: Major Groups Applaud President’s Call for a Rule to Protect Americans’ Retirement Savings

The seven organizations that launched the SaveOurRetirement.org campaign – AARP, AFL-CIO, AFSCME, Americans for Financial Reform, Better Markets, Consumer Federation of America and Pension Rights Center – applauded President Obama’s public support today for the Department of Labor’s (DOL) proposed rule to limit conflicts of interest, increase accountability, and strengthen protections for Americans receiving retirement investment advice.

Press Release: Petitions Urge Congress and Obama Administration to Back a Strong Fiduciary-Duty Rule for Retirement-Planning Advisers

In recent years, it has become more and more difficult for most people to save for retirement. At the same time, a great many hardworking Americans have missed out on tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars in potential retirement savings by following the advice of financial professionals who, because of outdated rules, are allowed to put their own interests ahead of the interests of those they advise…

Joint Statement: Nearly 60,000 Consumers Tell the FCC: Don’t Allow Robocalls to My Cell Phone

Today, more than 58,000 consumers across the nation sent a united message to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC): Do not allow robocalls to cell phones without our consent. The message came in the form of a petition from a coalition of national consumer groups, including the National Consumer Law Center, National Association of Consumer Advocates, Americans for Financial Reform, Consumer Action, Consumer Federation of America, National Consumers League, Public Citizen, and U.S. PIRG.

AFR in the News: Financial Reformers Counter Regional Bank Lobbying (PoliticoPro)

PoliticoPro reports that “financial reform advocates are ramping up lobbying against a push by regional banks to ease rules from the 2010 Dodd-Frank law.” While the banks argue that systemic-risk rules should be limited to a small group of the biggest and most complex banks, “Americans for Financial Reform says the failure of a large regional bank could be a big risk during a crisis,” writes Politico’s Zachary Warmbrodt.

AFR Briefing Paper: Myths and Realities of Large Regional Banks and the Dodd-Frank Act

In recent months there have been calls to roll back regulation of large regional banks – institutions that hold over $50 billion in assets but are not among the eight U.S. mega-banks with a global footprint. In response to unfounded claims about the treatment of large regional banks under the Dodd-Frank Act, AFR has sent a briefing paper to congressional staff as well as the press.

AFR Statement: HR 50 Is a Gift to Wall Street

This legislation is the latest effort to cripple regulators’ ability to protect the public interest by loading them down with new paperwork requirements and enabling even more industry lawsuits. HR 50 would impose dozens of new analysis burdens on the financial regulators who oversee Wall Street, and then change the law to ensure the ability of big banks to sue to stop a regulation based on even a single claimed analytical failure.

AFR in the News: Wall Street reform groups blast House reg bills (The Hill)

“[B]ackers of tough Wall Street rules see the legislation as opening new doors for industry to take regulators to court, or requiring watchdogs to jump through even more hoops to write rules. ‘These bills, in slightly different and overlapping ways, basically put another thumb on the scale,’ said Lisa Donner, executive director of Americans for Financial Reform. ‘But I would say it’s a lot heavier than a thumb. It’s another fist on the scale.'”

AFR Joins 34 Organizations in Urging Congress to Oppose HR 527

AFR joined 35 other organizations in urging Congress to reject HR 527, the “Small Business Regulatory Flexibility Improvements Act of 2015” (SBRFIA.) SBRFIA expands the reach and scope of the Regulatory Flexibility Act and would increase unnecessary and lengthy regulatory delays, increase undue influence by regulated industries and encourage convoluted court challenges.

Letter to Congress: AFR Joins 23 Organizations in Urging Congress to Oppose HR 50

AFR joined 23 organizations in sending a letter to members of Congress, urging them to oppose HR 50. This legislation would make it even more difficult for agencies to implement laws already enacted by Congress.

AFR in the News: Wall Street Gears up as White House Pushes Retirement Fund Rules

“Our experience has been that industry dramatically misrepresents the content and the impact of the rule, by making unsubstantiated claims” before it is released, said Marcus Stanley, policy director of Americans for Financial Reform, a coalition of groups that advocates for stronger regulation of Wall Street. “You are going to get a lot of fear-mongering.”