AFR joined the AFL-CIO and more than 40 organizations in sending a letter to the U.S. Trade Representative calling for a public consultation process to review and revise the “investor-state dispute settlement” (ISDS) process. This flawed process grants special legal rights and privileges to foreign-based business interests.
“Department enforcement plays a critical role in ensuring banks and payment processors meet [their] legal obligations,” the lawmakers say in a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder. “Unfortunately, recent cases demonstrate the seriousness of the consequences when those obligations are not met. Accordingly, we urge the Department to enforce vigorously applicable laws pertaining to payment fraud, money-laundering, and other illegal payments…”
The House of Representatives plans to vote this week on the so-called “Consumer Financial Protection and Soundness Improvement Act” (HR 3193). This bill is a gift to the worst elements of Wall Street and the financial industry, whose tricks and traps cost American families tens of billions of dollars a year. If enacted into law, HR 3193 would invite a resurgence of the abusive and deceptive lending that was one of the leading causes of the financial crisis that nearly capsized the U.S. economy five-and-a-half years ago.
115 organizations joined AFR in sending a letter to members of Congress urging them to reject HR 3193. This legislation would weaken the Consumer Bureau, prevent it from doing its job and instead serve the interests of the worst elements of the financial industry.
“First, if you don’t like a bill, amendment or provision thereof, you try to defeat it with a vote. Just say, then vote, no (or nay, or whatever). If that fails, go to stage two. You can try to defund it through the appropriations process. If that doesn’t work, there is stage three. This is where you can try to stop it, change it or delay it through the regulatory rule-making process. If all of those things fail, you can go to DEFCON four: litigation. That’s the D.C. Quadrakill: 1. kill bill; 2. defund it; 3. regulate it; and, 4. litigate it.”
More than 215 organizations joined AFR in signing a letter in support of the Mortgage Forgiveness Tax Relief Act. This crucial piece of legislation would protect homeowners who receive principal reduction modifications from devastating tax consequences is set to expire on December 31, 2013, just as the government’s recent settlement with JP Morgan Chase promises additional principal write downs. Congress must act swiftly to extend this legislation.
Despite broad popular support for the CFPB, the House Financial Services Committee depicts it as “a bogeyman that’s menacing borrowers and homebuyers,” says Susan Antilla (The Street, 2/13).
“’Eventually, the legislators who have acted this way are going to realize how wildly out of touch they are with their own constituents,” AFR’s Jim Lardner told Antilla. “They’re running the risk of being seen as pawns of Wall Street and slippery lenders.”
“The derivatives market is a global market, but risks incurred by U.S. firms can impact the U.S. economy regardless of where a derivatives transaction takes place. As the process of cross-border regulation moves forward we urge the CFTC to ensure that all derivatives transactions posing a risk to the U.S. economy fall either under U.S. rules or under a regime that is fully equivalent to U.S. rules and is properly enforced.”
These comments responded to the request for comments on the proposed interagency policy statement that established joint standards for assessing the diversity policies and practices of entities regulated by the agencies. AFR found that while the creation of the OMWIs in the Dodd-Frank Act was incredibly important, the joint standards released by six of the federal agencies fell unfortunately short on specifics. In particular, the standards do not provide detail or uniformity, and are additionally lacking in accountability measures to ensure that the goals of increasing worker and supplier diversity are met.
AFR commented on the CFTC’s proposal to establish position limits to limit speculation that increases prices and volatility in markets for agricultural and energy commodities. AFR urged the CFTC to strengthen the rules to be more effective in preventing excessive speculation.