AFR sent a letter to members of Congress urging them to reject HR 4, “Jobs for America Act,” focusing in particular on the portion of the bill that would roll back new registration and reporting requirements for private equity fund advisors that have already uncovered widespread abuses by the industry.
AFR submitted a comment letter to federal regulators urging that they impose strong restrictions on Wall Street executive pay and bonuses to ensure that they do not create incentives to take inappropriate short-term risks. This should be made a critical priority, given the role of pay in creating the incentives that led to the 2008 financial crisis.
This week, with Congress’s most unproductive session in modern memory nearing an end, the House of Representatives will take up an array of measures to deregulate Wall Street – measures for which there is close to zero voter support. If all goes according to its leaders’ plans, the House will debate and approve three separate legislative packages containing dozens of proposals to reverse or impede the financial reforms adopted after the 2008 crisis, or to throw procedural roadblocks of a broader kind in the way of the already slow process of adopting financial as well as health, safety and environmental regulations.
AFR joined forty four organizations in supporting the Department of Labor efforts to update and strengthen the protections that apply when individuals receive advice about their retirement investments.
AFR’s Policy Director, Dr. Marcus Stanley, provided testimony before the Senate Banking Committee during a hearing on the examining of small depository institutions.
AFR sent a letter to members of Congress urging that they oppose HR 5405 and The Insurance Capital Standards Act of 2014. These pieces of legislation include numerous technical changes that could have significant impacts on regulators ability to enforce new financial rules, and they deserve full debate and consideration from regulatory experts before being passed under suspension of the rules.
AFR offered comments to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau in response to their Request for Input on how consumers are using mobile financial services to access products and services, and manage finances. While mobile technology can enhance access to safer and more affordable technology for consumers, benefits will only be seen if technological systems are safe, fair, and honest. Regulators can help consumers—as well as those in industry—by establishing strong minimum standards.
AFR offered comments to the Federal Housing Finance Agency in response to their Request for Input related to g-fee policy and implementation. AFR encouraged FHFA to refrain from instituting any increases in g-fees or loan-level price adjustments (LLPAs) at this time.
“’This is a really important rule,’” said Marcus Stanley, policy director at Americans for Financial Reform. ‘Margin is the first line of defense in the derivatives market.’ The regulators made the changes to bring American margin rules in line with new international ones approved in 2013, and in response to public comments.
“’While it has taken us some time to get to this point, today’s action does represent significant progress,’ Thomas J. Curry, the comptroller of the currency, said in a statement.”