Letter to Congress: AFR Opposes HR 1266
AFR sent a letter to members of Congress urging them to oppose HR 1266, and any legislation that weakens the authority of the CFPB to effectively protect consumer.
AFR in the News: Consumer groups accuse SEC of ignoring investors (Investment News)
“We are concerned that the Securities and Exchange Commission — which has always prided itself on serving as ‘the investors’ advocate’ — appears in recent years to have strayed from its primary focus on its investor protection mission,” the letter stated. “Given the vital role that average investors play in our markets and the overall economy, and the serious shortcomings that exist in the regulatory protections they receive, it is time in our view for these issues to be prioritized.”
AFR in the News: About That Bill Name (Politico)
“Americans for Financial Reform is urging Congress to reject Rep. Ann Wagner’s bill to halt Labor Department’s fiduciary duty rule. In a March 10 letter to Congress, AFR says: ‘On behalf of Americans for Financial Reform, we are writing to express our opposition to HR 1090, the ‘Retail Investor Protection Act.’ This misnamed legislation in fact eliminates needed protections for retail investors … Financial professionals not covered by a fiduciary duty are legally free to recommend investments that benefit them, the seller of the product, at the expense of the customer who is saving for their future.’”
AFR Statement: We Welcome the President’s Call for a “Student Aid Bill of Rights”
“AFR urges swift adoption of these changes, along with further measures to deal with the burden of student loan debt. The complaint system is one of a number of places we think steps can and should be taken ahead of the deadlines laid out by the Administration. While the Department is establishing a full system for dealing with complaints, which should be comprehensive, it should partner with the CFPB so that borrowers can immediately use that process to submit complaints about federal student loans (as they already can about private loans).”
AFR Statement: CFPB Makes a Compelling Case for Banning Forced Arbitration
“In its latest study of forced arbitration, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) confirms what consumers and consumer advocates have long said about this practice: it is a private dispute system stacked against individuals seeking justice. AFR applauds the release of the CFPB’s report, and urges the Bureau to move forward swiftly with rulemaking to prohibit forced arbitration in consumer financial contracts.”
Letter to Congress: AFR Urges Congress to Protect Retirement Savings
AFR sent a letter to members of Congress urging them to protect retirement savings and reject HR 1090. This legislation would significantly delay and possibly prevent the Department of Labor from proposing a rule addressing flaws in protections for retirement savings, protections that have not been updated for some forty years.
Letter to Regulator: AFR and Five Consumer Organizations Urge SEC to Protect Retail Investors
AFR and five other consumer advocacy organizations, sent a letter to SEC Chair Mary Jo White detailing key investor protections that the SEC has failed to take, and urging Chair White to act on them.
Letter to Regulator: AFR and 9 other Organizations Urge SEC to Reconsider Membership of the Market Structure Advisory Committee
AFR and 9 other organizations sent a letter to Chair Mary Jo White expressing concern over the exclusion of Professor Joseph Stiglitz from the SEC Market Structure Advisory Committee. The letter urges the SEC to reconsider, or to provide more detail regarding how it arrived to its decision.
AFR in the News: A Practical Populist Wins High Praise at Treasury (CQ)
“One area where [Treasury Deputy Secretary Sarah Bloom] Raskin has flexed her muscles is in a new drive to restrict executive compensation at the biggest banks… [T]he Dodd-Frank Act required federal regulators to prohibit pay packaged to bank executives that encouraged inappropriate risk-taking… The matter has been revived in recent months, in part because Raskin has made it a priority, pushing it with Lew and the President himself…”
“We’re very pleased that regulators seem to be returning to the drawing board and thinking about a rule that might actually have some impact,” says Lisa Donner, executive director of the liberal Americans for Financial Reform, adding that Raskin has been a “champion” on the issue.
Press Release: Joint Letter Warns Congress Against Measures to Weaken CFPB
In a joint letter to Congress, Americans for Financial Reform and 340 organizations–state, local and national consumer groups, civil rights groups, faith-based groups, housing groups, labor unions and others–warn against efforts to “dismantle, weaken, or change the structure of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.”