CFTC Archives - Page 4 of 12 - Americans for Financial Reform

AFR Statement: Appropriations Bill Is Backdoor Financial Deregulation

“In addition to [a] dangerous and highly partisan rollback of financial regulations, the legislation takes aim at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, despite, or perhaps because of, the fact that is succeeding at its job of making the consumer finance markets safer and fairer. The appropriations bill contains policy riders that would dramatically weaken the CFPB by making it the only bank regulator which does not have independent funding, and by replacing the CFPB’s single director with a five-member commission – a known recipe for gridlock.”

Letter to Congress: AFR Urges Congress to Keep Our Markets Safe, Reject HR 2289

“On behalf of Americans for Financial Reform, we are writing to express our opposition to HR 2289, “The Commodity End User Relief Act”. This legislation would have a severe negative impact on the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and its ability to police commodity and derivatives markets.”

AFR in the News: Banks Would Get Boost for Overseas Swaps in House CFTC Bill (Huffington Post)

“The legislation would make it easier for Wall Street to escape tough rules designed to make trading more competitive and transparent, Marcus Stanley, policy director for Americans for Financial Reform, said in an interview. ‘It could undo various parts of the Dodd-Frank Act by permitting American banks to transact in locations where swaps are not as well-regulated,’ Stanley said.”

AFR Letter: CFTC and SEC Must Act Against Derivatives “De-Guaranteeing” Ploy

“On behalf of Americans for Financial Reform (AFR), we write today to ask you to ensure appropriate regulatory oversight of derivatives transactions conducted through foreign subsidiaries of multinational Wall Street banks. In particular, we urge you to prevent the inappropriate classification of such derivatives as ‘non-guaranteed’ by the parent company, a classification which could exempt them from numerous critical derivatives regulations.”

AFR in the News: Court Ruling Strengthens Swap Rules Overseas (Bloomberg)

“Marcus Stanley, policy director for Americans for Financial Reform, a coalition including the AFL-CIO labor federation, said the decision should bolster the agency’s efforts to curb recent steps by Wall Street to escape Dodd-Frank by shifting their overseas trading operations. ‘I really hope that this decision is going to stiffen the CFTC’s backbone,’ Stanley said in a phone interview.”

AFR in the News: Wall Street Defends Overseas Swap Trading From U.S. Regulation

““We had been warning for years about this loophole in the CFTC’s cross-border guidance,” Marcus Stanley, policy director for American for Financial Reform, told Bloomberg’s Silla Brush. “Now the CFTC seems to be letting it become an exit-ramp from Dodd-Frank.”

AFR in the News: House Passes Bill to Aid Koch Brothers, Deregulate Wall Street

“The bill includes… measures sought by the largest Wall Street banks and the Koch brothers, who control significant financial and energy derivatives operations,” writes Zach Carter of the Huffington Post. “Americans for Financial Reform, the premier policy analysis organization among bank watchdogs, advocated strongly against the bill alongside consumer groups and the AFL-CIO.”

House Reauthorization Bill Would Undermine Rather than Support CFTC

“The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has a huge role to play in protecting consumers and the economy against fraud, price manipulation, and reckless speculation… Unfortunately, HR 4413 would seriously interfere with the agency’s ability to fulfill its mission and defend our economic security.”

AFR in the News: Massad Heads to U.S. Swaps Agency as Wall Street Seeks Rollback

“There is still ‘great risk of going back even on the commitments that have been made final,’ said Marcus Stanley, policy director at Americans for Financial Reform… ‘In no way is he just a caretaker for a job that’s just been completed by somebody else,” Stanley, referring to Massad, said in an interview. ‘To make derivatives reform a reality means taking on some powerful interests and pushing forward against significant opposition and we hope he’s up to it.’”

AFR in the News: Global Swap Regulators Holding Closed-Door Talks With Industry

“’You could potentially use this to unravel big chunks of Dodd-Frank,’ said Marcus Stanley, policy director for Americans for Financial Reform, a coalition that includes the AFL-CIO labor union. The CFTC should institute a default presumption that affiliates are guaranteed by their parent company unless a bank can prove otherwise, he said.”