“Consumer advocates said the two bills could lead to abuses. For example, the bill addressing transactions between related companies refers to swaps between ‘affiliates.’ Marcus Stanley, policy director for Americans for Financial Reform, said he worried that corporate lawyers would try broadening the use of that term to include more and more companies. ‘It’s ridiculous to put this broad exemption into statute,’ Stanley said.”
AFR sent a letter to the House, urging opposition to HR 2779 and HR 2682, two harmful derivatives bills which are inaccurately being presented as ‘technical amendments’ necessary to correct minor issues in the Dodd-Frank Act.
“We are deeply disappointed by the Senate passage of the so called “JOBS Act.” With the country still suffering from hard times and high unemployment in the wake of the financial crisis, it is almost unbelievable that the Senate would rush passage of measures that will undermine transparency and accountability in the capital markets, and expose our families to a new round of fraud and abuse. But that is what they have done.”
U.S. PIRG sent a letter to the Senate this morning, echoing AFR’s letter supporting both the Reed and the Merkley-Bennet-Brown Amendments and urging members to vote NO on the JOBS Act.
The AFL-CIO sent a letter to the Senate this morning urging members to vote YES on the Reed Amendment to the JOBS Act.
AFR and CFA sent a letter to the Senate urging members to support both the Reed Amendment and the Merkley-Bennet-Brown Amendments, and to vote NO on the underlying bill.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: March 22, 2012 Contact: AARP Media Relations 202-434-2560 media@aarp.org AARP: JOBS Act Lacks Vital Investor Protections Washington, DC – AARP Senior Vice President Joyce Rogers issued the following statement today in response to the Senate passage of
AFR sent a letter to members of the Senate Appropriations subcommittee on Financial Services today urging them to full fund the CFTC.
“The Wall Street Journal has reported that the big banks are pressing Congress for a statutory delay in the implementation of the Volcker Rule. They claim that the fact that the law will become effective this July, possibly before all the rules are finalized, will lead to disruptions in our financial markets. But that’s simply not true. …his lobbying effort should be see for what it is — just another effort to undermine and negate the Volcker Rule so that Wall Street can continue proprietary speculation while taking advantage of the safety net taxpayers provide to the banking system.”
The so-called “JOBS Act,” which guts a host of investor protections, including those put in place in the wake of the Enron scandal and the financial crisis, was rushed through the House without any attention to its potentially devastating impact on investors, market transparency, and the integrity of our capital markets. It is up for votes in the Senate today, and Senators will have a last chance to stop it from racing through as is, and to demand improvements to protect investors and the public.