Americans for Financial Reform

AFR in the News: Whistleblower Bill Draws Lobbying

“The bill’s critics, including POGO, the AFL-CIO and Americans for Financial Reform, also wrote a letter to lawmakers warning of its impact on whistleblower protections. The bill, the letter said, ‘is an extreme approach that would silence would-be whistleblowers, endanger critical inside informants, undermine investigations, hamstring enforcement at the SEC and [Commodity Futures Trading Commission], and provide lawbreaking financial firms with an escape hatch from accountability.’”

AFR in the News: Is Jack Lew’s Bank Background Bad News For Financial Reform?

“Marcus Stanley, policy director for Americans for Financial Reform, a consumer advocacy group, did not want to comment on Lew specifically. But he said the ascension of another official with big bank experience is a sign that the revolving door between Wall Street and Washington continues to swing. ‘Many political elites in both parties have moved through Wall Street,’ Stanley said. ‘In some cases, they worked at the same institutions as those lobbying against effective implementation of Dodd-Frank. I hope and expect that in a government role they can set that past aside and implement the law as written.”

AFR in the News: CFTC Votes 4-to-1 for Rules Aimed at Wall Street Swap Abuse

“The final regulations are a ‘significant weakening’ of the CFTC’s original proposal, Marcus Stanley, policy director of Americans for Financial Reform, which includes AFL-CIO and other labor unions, said in an e-mail today. ‘The numerous opt-outs, exceptions, and safe harbors in the final rule can effectively give swap dealers a free pass out of compliance with key statutory protections,’ Stanley said.”

AFR in the News: Swap Dealers Rule OK’d

“Another consumer group shared Roper’s concerns. ‘These rules, unlike the initial proposal, are simply not sufficient to fully implement the Dodd-Frank protections,’ Americans for Financial Reform said in a release.”

AFR in the News: Americans Proving Clueless Paying Wall Street $20 Billion for Broken Swaps

“‘No one wants to say out loud they’re unsophisticated,’ said Marcus Stanley, policy director of the Washington-based nonprofit Americans For Financial Reform, a coalition of unions and civil rights and consumer advocates.”

AFR Press Statement: CFTC’s Final Rules on Swaps Dealer Business Conduct

“The final rules on swaps dealer business conduct approved by the CFTC today represent a significant weakening of the Commission’s initial proposed rules in this area. The Dodd-Frank Act created a significant set of new protections for public entities and pension funds in the derivatives markets. These rules, unlike the initial proposal, are simply not sufficient to fully implement the Dodd-Frank protections.”

Comment Letter: AFR Signs on to Comment Letter to the OCC Urging Withdrawal of Proposed Bank Payday/Overdraft Guidance

Read the letter that AFR signed onto, urging the OCC to withdraw proposed bank payday and overdraft guidance here.

This Week in Wall Street Reform

Click here to view this week’s highlights and lowlights in Wall Street Reform – January 2, 2012 – January 6, 2012 (also with news from the end of 2011).

AFR in the News: To Reclaim the Envy of the World, Wall Street Must Pay

“In other places, it is known as a ‘Robin Hood Tax’ and ‘Tobin tax,’ named for Nobel laureate James Tobin, who proposed in the early 1970s a tax on currency conversions. …A scaled-back tax of 1% would raise more than $200 billion, according to Americans For Financial Reform.”

AFR in the News: Obama Uses Recess Appointment to Name Cordray to Head CFPB

“Lisa Donner, executive director of Americans for Financial Reform, said in a statement after Obama’s recess appointment that ‘consumers won today when President Obama defied Wall Street interests to make a recess appointment’ of Cordray. Obama, she said, ‘stood with consumers and families in making this crucial decision.’ Now that the CFPB has a director, Donner went on to say, the CFPB “finally has its full authority to protect consumers everywhere in the financial marketplace, from a Wall Street bank to a payday lender or from a mortgage company to a credit bureau or anywhere else.'”