Americans for Financial Reform

AFR in the News: Protect your investments from oil shocks

“The last time we saw this speculative feeding frenzy was in 2008, when in July, amidst the meltdown in the credit and housing markets, speculators wildly ran up the price of crude oil to over $140 per barrel. Was the steroidal price explosion in 2008 due to increased demand or a significant reduction in supply? Trading volume was nearly 15 times world oil demand that year, according to research compiled by Americans for Financial Reform.”

This Week in Wall Street Reform

Click here to view this week’s highlights and lowlights in Wall Street Reform – February 25, 2012 – March 2, 2012.

News Articles Explain Dangers and Flaws of the JOBS Act

Below is a sampling of recent articles that highlight the JOBS Act many flaws and explain why so many different groups and individuals have come out in opposition.

Letters from Critics of the JOBS Act

The following letters have been submitted by organizations in opposition to the bipartisan JOBS Act.

CFA Statement: Spurring Job Growth through Capital Formation While Protecting Investors

Read CFA’s statement on the Senate Banking Committee hearing on the JOBS Act.

Testimony: Frmr SEC Accountant Lynn Turner Criticizes the JOBS Act

Read the letter here.

Letter: NASAA Criticizes the JOBS Act

Read the letter here.

News Article: Extraordinary Delusions and the Madness of Crowd(Funding)

Outpouring of Opposition: In a blog at The Huffington Post (“Extraordinary Delusions and the Madness of Crowd(Funding),” March 6, 2012), CFA Director of Investor Protection Barbara Roper documents the broad opposition to the supposedly non-controversial JOBS Act. She points to letters from investor advocates and

News Article: IPO Skids to Get Greased

Raising Risks: A Wall Street Journal article on a recent Senate Banking Committee hearing (“IPO Skids to Get Greased,” March 6, 2012) quotes U.S. securities regulators, legal experts and others who have raised concerns that the JOBS Act “may expose investors to greater risk” without

News Article: Financial Regulations Gutted in New Bill

Regulations Gutted: A column by Kathleen Pender in the San Francisco Chronicle (“Financial Regulations Gutted in New Bill,” March 11, 2012) asks why Democrats, who supported Dodd-Frank and created the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, are “solidly backing a bill that would weaken or obliterate many