Letters to Regulators: Joint Letter on Use of AI
AFREF joined partners in sending a letter with detailed recommendations in response to the joint RFI on financial institutions’ use of AI and ML.
Letters to Regulators: AFREF Letter to the Department of Education on Upcoming Negotiated Rulemaking
AFREF sent a letter to the Department of Education calling for several topics to protect borrowers in the upcoming negotiated rulemaking, and also urging the Department to administratively cancel student debt.
Letters to Regulators: Letter to the Department of Education on Topics for Upcoming Negotiated Rulemaking
AFREF joined a letter urging the Department of Education to include several topics that would protect borrowers in the upcoming negotiated rulemaking.
News Release: Fed Stress Tests Unleash Bank Capital Distributions at Expense of Financial Stability
The Federal Reserve has announced the results of its 2021 bank stress tests. Since then, these results have led a steady parade of the largest banks in the country to announce dramatic increases in dividends. The stress tests will also enable greater share buybacks and other capital distributions by banks. This will enrich senior executives and large shareholders, while putting financial stability at risk.
Letter to the Administration: Letter Calling for Faster Pace in Appointing Financial Regulatory Positions
AFR sent a letter urging the Biden Administration to take a faster pace in filling key regulatory and financial policy positions. The letter calls out how the Administration’s slow pace in these appointments has undermined its racial justice and climate change agendas.
Letters to Regulators: Letter Urging HUD to Provide 12 Months Forbearance to FHA-Insured Borrowers
AFREF joined a letter urging HUD to provide 12 months forbearance to FHA-insured borrowers who start their forbearance plans after July 1, 2021.
Letters to Regulators: Letter Urging Financial Regulators to Consider Fair Lending Risks in Use of Artificial Intelligence
AFREF and 22 organizations submitted comments in response to the regulators’ Request for Information and Comment on Financial Institutions’ Use of Artificial Intelligence, including Machine Learning, urging the financial regulators to consider fair lending risks of using artificial intelligence and machine learning and enact safeguards to prevent disproportionate adverse impacts from the use of AI/ML models.
Blog Post: SPAC fantasies unravel for electric truck company Lordstown Motors
Lordstown Motors was supposed to be a promising electric vehicle startup backed by General Motors that would help revolutionize low-emissions vehicles while also revitalizing America’s “Rust Belt”. Instead, many of its promises, exploiting the loopholes in the SPAC model, were soon found to be untrue, reiterating the important changes that need to be made to the business model of companies taken public through SPACs.
Joint Press Release: Advocates Push for Increased Enforcement and Later Rule Sunset to Prevent Improper Foreclosures as the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Issues Final Servicing Rule
Today, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (Bureau) released its final rule under the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA) related to helping homeowners impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. The rule contains important consumer protections to help stave off unnecessary foreclosures, but the time period for the rule’s foreclosure protections should be extended and the Bureau should vigorously enforce it to ensure homeowners receive the intended protections.
News Release: AFR Applauds Passage of Congressional Review Act Resolution Overturning Trump-Era Rule Enabling Nationwide Predatory Lending
“This vote ends the Trump administration’s enabling of predatory lending in blatant violation of state consumer protection laws,” Jun added.