Americans for Financial Reform

AFR in the News: Education Dept. Readies Debt-Forgiveness Plan for Ex-Corinthian Students (Chronicle of Higher Ed)

“‘These students were playing by the rules, sacrificing to get an education and improve their own and their families’ lives,” said Lisa Donner, executive director of Americans for Financial Reform, a coalition of groups formed in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis. “They should not be buried in debt for a scam that the Department of Education allowed to continue, even once fraud and abuse were clear.”

AFR in the News: Dodd-Frank Rollback Bill Advances in Senate (ThinkAdvisor)

“Americans for Financial Reform stated that the bill is ‘fundamentally misconceived: while its proponents claim to be focused on the needs of small community banks, the substance of the bill reads more like a deregulatory wish list for big banks and other large financial players.’ AFR stated that a ‘disturbing number of lawmakers are once again willing to act as shills for Wall Street and its discredited deregulatory agenda,’ adding that it’s ‘unlikely that this dangerous bill or anything like it will become law.’”

AFR Statement: Forgetting the Lessons of the Financial Crisis

“As today’s [Senate banking committee] vote shows, a disturbing number of lawmakers are once again willing to act as shills for Wall Street and its discredited deregulatory agenda. But the sharply divided nature of the vote is heartening. Ten of the committee’s 22 members voted against the bill. Their continued support for Wall Street reform, along with the public’s support, makes it unlikely that this dangerous bill or anything like it will become law.”

Joint Statement: 58 Lawmakers Call for a Strong CFPB Rule on Forced Arbitration

In a letter to Director Richard Cordray, 58 lawmakers urge the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to use its Dodd-Frank authority to prohibit financial services companies from forcing consumers to resolve disputes in private arbitration instead of court. The CFPB should heed their call, four public-interest groups, including AFR, said today.

Letter to Congress: AFR Urges Senate to Reject Toomey Amendment

“On behalf of Americans for Financial Reform we are writing to express our opposition to Senator Toomey’s Amendment 8, offered by Senator Toomey to Senator Shelby’s regulatory reform bill scheduled for mark-up on May 21.”

Letter to Congress: AFR Supports Operation Choke Point, Urges Congress to Reject Crapo Amendment

On behalf of Americans for Financial Reform, we urge you to oppose Senator Crapo’s Amendment 19 to Senator Shelby’s regulatory reform bill scheduled for mark-up today, May 21. The amendment would prohibit the banking agencies from implementing or participating in the Department of Justice’s Operation Choke Point.

Letter to Congress: AFR Letter on the Democratic Substitute Amendment to “The Financial Regulatory Improvement Act of 2015”

“The Democratic substitute amendment represents a better approach to protecting consumers and the broader stability and security of the financial system, as well as to balancing attention to the concerns of real community banks and the need for key standards to apply across the system. “

Letter to Congress: AFR, 23 Organizations Oppose Chairman Shelby’s “Financial Regulatory Improvement Act of 2015”

“On behalf of Americans for Financial Reform and the undersigned organizations, we are writing to express our opposition to Chairman Shelby’s draft legislation, “The Financial Regulatory Improvement Act of 2015.”… While there are a number of reasonable proposals within this lengthy bill, the legislation as a whole contains numerous provisions that would unacceptably weaken consumer and financial protections.”

Letter to Congress: AFR Opposes Three Bills, Supports Another, Being Considered by the House Financial Services Committee

“On behalf of Americans for Financial Reform (AFR), we are writing to express our opposition to several of the bills under consideration in today’s subcommittee hearing, as well as our support for HR 1847, the “Swaps Data Repository and Clearinghouse Indemnification Act”.”

Joint Petition: 78,000 Individuals and 50 Organizations Tell Dept. of Education to Grant Debt Relief to Corinthian Students

“Yesterday, more than 78,000 individuals as well as 51 national and local consumer, labor, and community groups sent a clear message – exressed in a set of petitions and letters to Secretary of Education Arne Duncan – that the U.S. Department of Education (the Department) has a duty to cancel the federal student loans of all borrowers harmed by Corinthian Colleges without requiring each one to prove Corinthian’s fraud. “