Americans for Financial Reform

AFR in the News: Consumer groups warn about weakening financial regulations

“A team of consumer groups warned Tuesday that lobbying by Wall Street could weaken proposed regulations designed to guard against the kind of abusive investment practices that crushed the Bethlehem Area School District in recent years. Speaking at a teleconference, representatives of the Consumer Federation of America, the AFL-CIO, Americans for Financial Reform and Pennsylvania Auditor General Jack Wagner said well-financed lobbies are working to disarm regulations initially designed to rein them in.”

AFR in the News: Consumers lose as GOP moves against nominee for new consumer bureau

“…As expected, Republican senators blocked a vote Thursday on whether to approve President Obama’s nominee to head the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. …A July poll sponsored by AARP, Americans for Financial Reform and the Center for Responsible Lending found that about 63% of Americans favored more government oversight of financial companies, and 74% favored having a single agency focus on protecting consumers from financial organizations.”

AFR Conference: Executive Pay and the Dodd-Frank Consumer Protection Act

View the agenda, watch video, and read supplemental materials from our conference “Executive Pay and the Dodd-Frank Act”

AFR in the News: Despite Defeat, Cordray Lobbying Continues

Before the vote, more than 200 organizations, led by Americans for Financial Reform, sent a letter to senators warning that the CFPB’s ability to regulate and protect consumers would be severely restricted without a director.

AFR in the News: Senate Republicans Block Consumer-Bureau Nominee

‘Some senators are taking the extreme step of demanding that the law be reopened and refusing to allow him an up or down vote,’ said Americans for Financial Reform Director Lisa Donner. ‘If they continue, we will urge the president to make a recess appointment.’

AFR Press Statement: Filibuster of Cordray Nomination to lead the CFPB

With this morning’s vote on General Cordray’s nomination to lead the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), Senators faced a choice. Would they stand up for fair rules of the road in the consumer financial marketplace, or would they side with the big Wall Street banks, and the bottom feeders in the lending industry?

Unfortunately, 45 Senators chose the latter. With unemployment still above 8.5%, and millions of foreclosures devastating families and communities, they chose to defend the status quo that allowed the deceptive and abusive lending at the heart of the financial crisis to flourish. With people struggling to make ends meet in hard times, they chose to protect payday lenders making 300% ‘debt trap’ loans. Now they are on the record. We do not think their constituents will be pleased.

AFR Letter: More Than 200 Organizations Urge Senate to Confirm Cordray

Together with more than 200 national, state, and local organizations, AFR signed a letter urging the Senate to confirm Richard Cordray as Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB.)

AFR in the News: Protect Public Entities and Pension Funds From Abuses

The Consumer Federation of America, Americans for Financial Reform, and the AFL-CIO, hosted a conference call with reporters and bloggers on Tuesday, December 6th to discuss threats to a key Dodd-Frank provision designed to protect municipalities, pensions and other vulnerable swaps market participants from predatory industry practices of the kind that just last month drove Jefferson County, Alabama to declare the nation’s largest ever municipal bankruptcy.

AFR Press Release: Updated: 200 Organizations sign on to letter in support of Cordray nomination.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE December 7, 2011 For Interviews: John Carey at 202-466-1854 or john@ourfinancialsecurity.org Updated: 200 Organizations sign on to letter in support of Cordray nomination. National, State, and Local Organizations Call On U.S. Senators to Protect Consumers. *A Letter of support for General Cordray’s

Poll Demonstrates Broad Support for Financial Reform

An overwhelming majority of Americans—Republican, Democratic, and Independent—favor strong, sensible oversight of the financial services industry, including a strong and independent Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the poll finds.