Americans for Financial Reform

Joint Statement: Wall Street, U.S. Chamber Ask Congress for Bailout from a Rulemaking That Would Hold Big Banks Accountable When They Cheat, Rip-Off Consumers

Congress must resist temptation to give in to powerful corporate lobbyists that seek to use the country’s budget process to eliminate a much-anticipated Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) rulemaking that would ensure consumers have access to court when cheated or ripped off, consumer advocacy groups said today. A group of industry representatives that includes the American Bankers Association and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce sent letters to members of Congress this week encouraging them to add a harmful rider to the contentious spending bills that would disregard the CFPB’s multi-year, data-driven study and analysis on the use of forced arbitration clauses in the fine print of financial contracts.

AFR Statement: A Stronger Emergency Lending Rule from the Fed

“Yesterday the Federal Reserve issued its final rule on emergency lending. In response to bipartisan criticism of the 2013 proposal from, among others, Senators Elizabeth Warren and David Vitter, Representative Jeb Hensarling, and Americans for Financial Reform, the Federal Reserve has significantly modified its initial proposal.”

Fact Sheet: Budget Riders Watchlist, Stop Wall Street Giveaways

“Here are some of the major goals that the financial industry and its political allies hope to achieve through language attached to end-of-year appropriations bills. This list does not provide an exhaustive list of potential financial regulatory riders to funding bills, but does highlight the potential riders that have recently been most prominent in the debate. “

AFR Statement: Two Bad Bills Win House Approval

The House of Representatives passed two ill-advised financial deregulation bills on November 18th. Both are giveaways to some of the country’s biggest banks. Both, if they ever became law, would mark a dangerous retreat from the financial reforms put in place after the financial crisis.

Fact Sheet: Don’t Deregulate Large Regional Banks

“Large regional banks like Washington Mutual, Countrywide, and Wachovia all failed during the financial crisis and placed a major strain on the financial system when they did so. These banks also played an important role in the epidemic of irresponsible mortgage lending leading up to the crisis.”

Fact Sheet: Community Banks Are Alive And Well Under Dodd-Frank

“Community Banks Have Returned to Profitability: The percentage of community banks that are profitable has increased every year since 2009. Over the first half of 2015, almost 95% of the nation’s 5,880 community banks showed a profit. Return on Equity is Up: Overall profit (Return on Equity) at community banks has also increased every single year since 2009, reaching a healthy 8.9% so far in 2015.”

AFR Statement: The House Puts Its Seal of Approval on Discriminatory Auto Lending

“Supporters of the “Reforming CFPB Indirect Auto Financing Guidance Act,” which passed by a vote of 332 to 96, have tried to hide behind a smokescreen of baseless questions and false claims supplied to them by industry lobbyists. But the clear intent of this bill is to block the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) from taking action to combat lending practices that lead to African-American as well as Hispanic and Asian-American borrowers being charged higher interest rates on auto loans.”

Nominations: AFR, 6 Organizations Urge President Obama and Secretary Lew to Nominate Candidates Committed to Financial Reform to the CFTC

“We, the undersigned organizations, are writing regarding the current open seats for Commissioners at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). It is vital that you nominate individuals who have both the publicly demonstrated commitment to financial reform and the financial markets expertise that is necessary to complete the implementation of crucial Dodd-Frank mandated reforms of our financial and commodity derivatives markets. “

AFR Event: Hedge Funds & Private Equity – Transferring Wealth Upwards

“Do private funds drive positive change and improve efficiency? Or do they drive short-termism, job losses and systemic risk in our markets? Regulators have only just begun to shine a light on these funds, revealing a host of problems and raising many more questions about their operations. “

Memo: Who Really Benefits From Senator Shelby’s Financial Deregulation Proposal?

“Earlier this year, Senate Banking Chair Richard Shelby introduced the “Financial Regulatory Improvement Act of 2015” — a massive bill that gives a preview of the kind of regulatory rollbacks the financial industry will try to attach to end-of-year funding bills. In fact, Senator Shelby has already placed the entire bill into appropriations legislation that passed the relevant committee earlier this year.”