On Oct. 31, the Senate voted to filibuster the nomination of Representative Mel Watt as Director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency. This was an appalling vote on several levels. In the first place, the 46 Senators who said No to cloture were using
“’The House is the odd man out in terms of doing Wall Street’s bidding,” says AFR policy director Marcus Stanley. “They’re letting Wall Street write the law to its own benefit in ways that harm the public.”
AFR joined the National Consumer Law Center, Consumer Federation of America, the Center for Responsible Lending, and 26 other consumer and civil rights groups call for stronger measures to stop banks and payment processors from helping internet and tribal payday lenders collect illegal payments from consumers’ bank accounts.
The House vote to approve this legislation, largely written by Citibank lobbyists, reminds us that Wall Street is still doing everything in its power to protect the status quo that caused the financial crisis… The good news is that 122 House members voted No this time. What started out as a backroom deal between bank lobbyists and legislators wound up being an uncomfortable vote for the dealmakers. That makes it much less likely that the Senate will act, and more likely that the swaps push out provision will finally be implemented.
AFR Policy Director Marcus Stanley participates in debate on ‘Smaller, Simpler Banks’ with Rodgin Cohen (Chair of Sullivan and Cromwell), John Dugan (former Comptroller of the Currency), and Randall Kroszner (University of Chicago; former Governor on the Federal Reserve Board). The debate was sponsored by the International Institute of Finance. As the only public interest representative at the debate, Dr. Stanley defending the need for simplifying and shrinking big banks.
AFR wrote to the banking regulators to urge them to strengthen the new supplementary leverage ratio proposed for large U.S. banks.
The safety of the food we eat, the air we breathe, the cars we drive — Congress enacted landmark laws to tackle these threats to the public. Yet today, many of the rules required to execute these laws have been delayed and/or weakened under
AFR joined twenty public interest, consumer, and labor organizations in sending a letter to members of Congress urging them to oppose HR 3211. This legislation would reopen the door to the higher fees borrowers faced in the lead up to the mortgage crisis.
The best and worst states when it comes to taking measures to keep creditors from pushing debtors and their families into destitution.
The use of mandatory arbitration in disputes between investors, on the one hand, and brokers or other investment professionals, on the other. Hosted by Americans for Financial Reform, North American Securities Administrators Association and Public Citizen