This Week in Wall Street Reform
Click here to view this week’s highlights and lowlights in Wall Street Reform – February 11, 2012 – February 17, 2012.
AFR Letter: Oppose HR 2308, HR 1838, and HR 3606
AFR sent the following letter to House Financial Services Committee members, expressing concerns about three proposed bills that would undermine transparency and accountability in the financial system.
AFR in the News: Comments Flood In on Volcker Rule
The so-called Volcker Rule has broken the record for attracting the most comment letters submitted on any Dodd-Frank proposal. Regulators have received a whopping 17,000-plus comments on the proposal, a Federal Reserve spokeswoman said. …Behind this deluge is a partnership of two consumer advocacy groups that have been active in pushing back against the banks during the Dodd-Frank rule-writing process. Public Citizen and Americans for Financial Reform used email lists and social media such as Twitter and Facebook to recruit members and others to submit comments on the Volcker Rule.
AFR in the News: The Volcker Rule’s Unusual Critics
“What does Goldman Sachs have in common with Red Lobster and Macy’s? They all loathe the Volcker Rule. …An array of supporters of the proposed rule, including Mr. Volcker himself, pushed back against the escalating rhetoric. ‘This criticism is deeply misguided,’ Americans for Financial Reform, a nonprofit group that favors Wall Street regulation, said in a comment letter. The group said that too much of a good thing, or ‘excessive market liquidity,’ drove the financial system to the brink of collapse in 2008.”
Tell Your Members of Congress – A Wall Street Speculation Tax Makes Sense
Support for a Wall Street Speculation Tax has been spreading across the nation with more grassroots groups calling for a tax on reckless Wall Street speculation than ever before. To move forward on winning this policy change, we need members of Congress to step up and support Wall Street speculation taxes. Write your Senators and Representatives and ask them to support a Wall Street Speculation tax.
AFR Letter: Oppose Anti-Investor “Capital Formation” Legislation
AFR sent a letter to the Senate, expressing concerns about a raft of bills that are harmful to economic and job growth.
AFR in the News: 14,479 letters supporting the Volcker Rule
“This public support for Volcker is the outgrowth of a letter-writing campaign by Americans for Financial Reform, Public Citizen, and other advocacy groups that have lobbied to defend and strengthen Dodd-Frank. Since Dodd-Frank was passed, regulators have invited the public to weigh in on the new rules before turning the blueprints into final law.”
AFR Press Release: Organizations Call for Strong “Volcker Rule” to Reform Wall Street Speculation
Americans for Financial Reform, Public Citizen, and Occupy the SEC hosted a conference call with reporters and bloggers Tuesday, February 14th at 2:00 PM EST to discuss the importance of the “Volcker Rule” and calling on the regulators to draft an effective final rule, and to resist industry’s efforts to defend a status quo that serves Wall Street special interests and puts the public at risk.
AFR in the News: Industry Opponents Slam Volcker Rule as Volcker Defends It
“The controversial Volcker rule that regulates proprietary trading came in for a final round of comment as frustrated bankers, anti-Wall Street activists and Paul Volcker himself flooded government regulators with last-minute statements before the deadline Monday at midnight. …Backing up Volcker were a number of Democrat senators as well as a coalition group comprising Americans for Financial Reform, Public Citizen, and Occupy the SEC, a sub-group associated with New York’s Occupy Wall Street movement.”
AFR in the News: AFR on Volcker: Not Tough Enough
“Americans for Financial Reform letter on the rule: ‘There are significant positive elements in this proposed rule. But it still falls well short of fully implementing the statute. It is clear from both the legislative history and the text of the statute that in passing the Volcker Rule Congress sought fundamental change in the American financial system by restoring basic firewalls between the banking system and the capital markets.'”