“It’s basically a way to finance state and local investment that doesn’t go through Wall Street and doesn’t leave the community and turn into a windfall for shareholders,” said Porter McConnell, the campaign director of advocacy group Take On Wall Street. “This is more about community development.”
AFREF submitted a letter to the Department of Labor urging it to withdraw a rule proposal that would impose onerous costs and process requirements on private sector retirement plans when deciding whether and how to vote on matters brought to a vote at public companies’ annual meetings. It will impose costs on retirement savers and undermine advances on corporations’ integration of environmental, social and governance factors, including those that have a material financial impact on long-term investment performance
The Proposal will impose new costs on beneficiaries, undermine American’s retirement security, and impede investment decisions that would lead to a more sustainable economy and society.
AFREF urges the Department of Labor to withdraw their proposed rule entitled “Financial Factors in Selecting Plan Investments.” It discourages fiduciaries from considering environmental, social and governmental (ESG) factors in their investments and creates burdens for investors looking to be socially conscious.
“The failure to effectively control underwriting standards is one more example of ‘heads they win, tails we lose’ support for Wall Street.”
You can view or download the letter here.
Americans for Financial Reform Education Fund sent a letter to the Federal Reserve Board, urging them to avoid any actions which would permit the financial holding companies or any of their subsidiaries to directly or indirectly operate oil or gas companies. The letter highlights the manifold physical, economic, reputational and financial system risks of bank commodity holdings, risks have become even more severe with the recent dislocation in global energy markets. As these markets will be disrupted for an extended period, the letter asks the Board to firmly reject any effort by banks to use the situation with respect to defaulting loans in the energy industry to increase bank involvement in the oil and gas industry.
Read or download the full PDF version of the letter. The AFR Education Fund sent a letter to the Securities and Exchange Commission opposing proposed changes to rules concerning proxy voting advisors and resubmission thresholds for shareholder proposals. Taken together, the changes will dramatically reduce