Americans for Financial Reform

Public Campaign Action Fund: Spencer Bachus Received 97% of 1st Quarter Funds from Wealthy, Out of State Donors

http://www.campaignmoney.org/press-room/2011/04/21/spencer-bachus-1st-quarter-funds Washington, D.C.—Ninety-seven percent of Rep. Spencer Bachus’ (R-Ala.) first quarter fundraising came from donations outside of Alabama, according to Public Campaign Action Fund analysis of data provided by the Federal Elections Commission (FEC). Bachus, chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, told the Birmingham

WTO Financial Deregulation

Read pdf here. April 21, 2011 The Honorable Michael Punke Ambassador Deputy U.S. Trade Representative and Permanent Representative to the WTO Permanent Mission of the United States of America 11 Route de Pregny 1292 Geneva Dear Ambassador Punke: Even as outcomes of intensified efforts

AFR Bulletin: Position Limits

Financial speculation on commodities like oil and food is driving up consumer prices from the gas pump to the grocery store. To bring it under control, we need workable position limits. But the verdict is in – the CFTC’s proposal needs to be strengthened to do the job.

AFR Response to Misleading Study on Servicer Settlement

The bank-funded study on the supposed economic costs of the state AGs proposed settlement with mortgage servicers is a patchwork of unsupported assumptions all designed to lead to one conclusion – that the big servicers who funded the study ought to get a free ride.

AFR Private Funds Letter

View Our PDF Version Here April 12th, 2011 Elizabeth M. Murphy Secretary Securities and Exchange Commission 100 F St., NE Washington, DC 20549 Mr. David A. Stawick Secretary Commodity Futures Trading Commission Three Lafayette Centre 1155 21st Street, N.W. Washington DC 20581 RE:

AFR Market Risk Letter

This NPR implements provisions of the Basel III agreement relevant to the use of internal risk modeling to set risk-based capital levels for financial institutions. As a general matter, AFR is highly skeptical of the use of internal bank Value at Risk (VAR) models for setting capital requirements.

AFR Statement on Passage of FY2011 Continuing Resolution

This continuing resolution does not give the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and the Securities and Exchange Commission all of the resources they need, but we are very pleased that the President and Congress fought to keep Wall Street reform on track and resisted efforts to starve them of the funds necessary to police the rules of the financial market.

AFR to Congress: Protect Homeowners, Hold Lawbreaking Big Banks Accountable

Read the pdf here. April 13th, 2011 Dear Representative, The record of lawbreaking and abuse by the largest banks and servicers at every stage of the mortgage origination, securitization, servicing and foreclosure process is breathtaking, and the damage done – to homeowners, communities, investors, pension

US PIRG’s Big Banks, Bigger Fees: A National Survey of Bank Fees and Fee Disclosure Policies

Since Congress largely deregulated consumer deposit (checking and savings) accounts beginning in the early 1980s, the PIRGs have tracked bank deposit account fee changes and documented the banks’ long-term strategy to raise fees, invent new fees and make it harder to avoid fees.

AFR SEC SEF Letter

A key objective of Title VII of the Dodd-Frank Act (DFA) is to create transparency in previously unregulated derivatives markets. Indeed, the transparency goal is apparent in the short title of the section – ―The Wall Street Transparency and Accountability Act‖. Transparency is a critical goal across the entire Dodd-Frank Act, and is mentioned in the overall purpose statement of the legislation.