With the confirmation battle ended, the Columbus Dispatch paused to reflect on the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s accomplishments. “It’s off to a really good start,” AFR’s Lisa Donner told the Dispatch’s Jessica Wehrman. “But there’s a whole lot of work left to be done.”
AFR joined the AFL-CIO, AFSCME, Consumer Federation of America, SEIU, and U.S. PIRG in sending a letter to the Senate opposing S. 710. S. 710 would weaken accountability for financial advice to municipalities, harm communities, and is unnecessary given the exemptions that already exist in the law and the authority of the SEC to address any outstanding issues.
A Policy Forum on the Small-Business Stake in Big-Bank Reform Five years after the 2008 crisis, the financial world remains dominated by a half dozen megabanks which continue to engage in speculative activities for their own enrichment, even as they enjoy the benefits of
By 71 to 29, the Senate has agreed to end debate and allow a vote on the nomination of Richard Cordray as director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. That vote “will remove the threat of legal challenges to the bureau’s rules and enforcement actions,” Bloomberg reports.
“Under Rich Cordray’s leadership, the Bureau has begun to make a difference for consumers. Now it’s here to stay. It can continue its important work, with its authority and independence intact. That’s terrific news for American families, and for the American economy.”
“This legislation restores the division between commercial banking and financial market activities – a change that will make our financial system more secure and better able to support the real economy.”
“Without real built-in investor-protection standards, we are seriously concerned that this rule will open the door to mass marketing of hedge funds and other risky and often illiquid ‘private’ securities in a market where abuses are common and SEC oversight is very limited. Fraud and abuse are not good for investors; they’re not good for capital markets, either.”
AFR joined more than 160 public interest groups in urging the Senate to confirm Richard Cordray as Director of the CFPB.
In today’s global financial markets, risk is not bounded by geographic borders but instead flows to whatever entity is ultimately liable for a transaction. While the CFTC hasmoved forward in the face of intense industry pressure, its guidance leaves some doubt about a potential cross-border loophole.
Three years after Dodd-Frank, the Securities and Exchange Commission has yet to write a rule implementing “one of the simpler parts of a mammoth and complicated law.” The Washington Post explores the reasons.