Blog Post: GAO Report Confirms Opportunity Zones Program Ripe to Be Exploited by Wealthy Taxpayers
A new Government Accountability Office report confirms several conclusions in AFR’s initial analysis of the Opportunity Zones program.
Letters to Regulators: Federal Insurance Office Request for Information on the Insurance Sector and Climate-Related Financial Risks
AFREF sent a letter to the Treasury’s Federal Insurance Office (FIO) on how the agency can coordinate with state insurance regulators and insurers to have the necessary data, supervisory framework, and prudential regulation in a world where climate-related losses continue to rise and pose risks to the entire financial system.
Report: Scorecard Shows Secretary Yellen, FSOC, Fell Short on Plans to Mitigate Climate Risk
The Sierra Club, Americans for Financial Reform Education Fund, and Public Citizen released an analysis of the Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC) report on climate-related financial risk. The analysis outlines the report’s disappointing lack of urgency and details the missed opportunities to chart a comprehensive course
Letters to Congress: Letter in Support of H.R. 2620, the Investor Choice Act of 2021
AFR sent a letter to Congress in support of H.R. 2620, the Investor Choice Act of 2021.
Fact Sheet: Tax Corporate Stock Buybacks that Enrich Executives and Worsen Inequality
Stock buybacks exacerbate the racial wealth gap, worsen economic inequality, and divert resources from the real economy which harms workers. Taxing buybacks would raise revenue and discourage companies from putting highly-paid executives ahead of the broader economy.
Event: Americans for Financial Reform Hosts a Conversation with Professor Art Wilmarth
AFR’s Senior Policy Analyst Renita Marcellin hosted a conversation with Professor Art Wilmarth, author of Taming the Megabanks: Why We Need a New Glass-Steagall Act. Professor Wilmarth discussed why structural protections, such as a modern Glass-Steagall Act and the separation between banking and commerce, are necessary in the banking system. They also examined how the erasure of these laws have led to many of the challenges we are currently facing in the financial system including ILCs/special purpose charters, the rise of Fintech firms, and stablecoins and highlighted the urgency of revisiting laws on structural separations in the banking system.
Letters to Congress: Letter in Support of Three Crucial Provisions of BBB to Strengthen the FTC
AFR joined a letter to Congress in support of three crucial provisions of the Build Back Better Act that would strengthen the FTC’s hand against discriminatory and abusive data practices and the businesses that engage in them.
Letters to Regulators: Letter to HUD on Evictions in HUD-Assisted Housing and the Interim Final Rule, Extension of Time and Required Disclosures for Nonpayment of Rent
AFREF joined a letter urging HUD to strengthen its recent Interim Final Rule intended to prevent evictions.
Statement: Leading the Pack, OCC Announces Climate Risk Guidance for Banks by Years End
Acting Comptroller Michael Hsu announced that the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) plans to develop climate risk supervisory expectations for large banks and issue guidance for comment by the end of the year. Over the past year, Americans for Financial Reform Education Fund and partners have urged the OCC and other banking regulators to take this important initial step immediately. We applaud Acting Comptroller Hsu for his leadership on this issue and we urge the other regulators to follow suit and issue guidance by the end of the year.
Letters to Regulators: Letter to ED on 90/10 Implementation
AFREF joined a letter in response to the Education Department’s request for public comments on a rule to fully implement closure of the 90/10 loophole.