In The News: The Capital One-Discover deal raises thorny issues for Washington (American Banker)

“Today’s concentrated markets and behemoth banking organizations are the result of a thirty-year run of mergers and consolidation,” said Patrick Woodall, senior fellow at the Americans for Financial Reform Education Fund. “It is time for the banking regulators to stop rubber-stamping these transactions and stand up for consumers, communities, and a more stable financial system by blocking this takeover.”

a green forest with a tornado looming

Letters to Regulators: CFTC Should Finalize Guidance and Continue Close Monitoring of Risks of Voluntary Carbon Credit Derivatives Contracts

Americans for Financial Reform Education Fund (AFREF) submitted a comment letter to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC”) on its proposed guidance for designated contract markets (“DCMs”) on commodity characteristics that should be considered in terms and conditions for the listing of voluntary carbon credit

News Release: Changes to Disclosures Will Increase Visibility in some Private Fund Activities

Washington, D.C. – The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodities Futures Trading Commission’s (CFTC) expansions to the information collected by private funds over Form PF and Form CPO will provide both the agencies and the Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC) with greater visibility and early warning signs into portions of the $21 trillion private fund industry. 

News Release: Researchers Unveil Searchable Database of Top Private Equity Energy Portfolios

Washington, D.C. – Private Equity Climate Risks is launching the Private Equity Energy Tracker, the first-of-its-kind, searchable portal that provides a catalog of the energy holdings of eight of the top North American private equity firms: KKR, The Carlyle Group (NGP), Brookfield (Oaktree Capital), The Blackstone Group, TPG Capital, Warburg Pincus, Apollo Global Management, and Ares Management. Collectively, they hold around $4.3 trillion in assets under management (AUM). 

SEC Building

Letters to Congress: Urging Action on $5 Trillion Exempt Offerings/Private Markets

Americans for Financial Reform today wrote to the House Financial Services Committee’s Subcommittee on National Security, Illicit Finance, and International Financial Institutions urging members to rely on existing authority by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in order to gain more transparency into the $5 trillion private markets (“exempt offerings” under SEC Rule 144A and Reg D) to address national security concerns.

News Release: 82 Democratic Members of Congress Urge Biden to Name Postal Board Nominees to “Protect and Expand” a Public USPS, endorsed by 36 public-interest groups

Washington, D.C. – Eighty-two Democratic members of the House of Representatives signed a letter sent to President Biden today urging him to swiftly nominate two new public-service-minded members to the USPS Board of Governors. Thirty-six public interest groups, including Americans for Financial Reform, Public Citizen, Main Street Alliance, Revolving Door Project, Social Security Works, and Voter Action Project, endorsed the letter.