AFR sent a letter to the House Financial Services Committee opposing a dozen bills that would deregulate banks and strip away consumer and investor protections.
“H.R. 3312 dramatically restricts oversight of some of the largest banks in the country, increasing risks to regional economies and to financial stability, and therefore to the prosperity of families and communities.”
Disguised as a regulatory relief for small businesses, this legislation would exempt from registration requirements merger and acquisition brokers of transactions involving quite large privately held companies, while opening a deregulatory window of opportunity for private equity firms to exploit.
AFR sent a letter urging Senators to reject S 2155, which contains some two dozen deregulatory gifts to bank lobbyists and only minimal consumer benefits AFR Opposition Letter to S 2155
A look back at the financial lobby’s robotic opposition to one proposed reform after another, and how Wall Street’s claims have squared with real-world events. This new AFR report homes in on three pre-financial-crisis case studies, involving credit cards, mortgages, and derivatives.
“Marcus Stanley, policy director for Americans for Financial Reform, expressed concern about the report’s guidance. ‘The recommendations are “almost uniformly deregulatory.’ he said. ‘It is written pretty technically, but what they are saying is that a lot of things that were done after the crisis to try increase our safety margins and improve our risk control on derivatives they want to cut back on.’”
“Mr. Quarles was part of the regulatory team at the Bush Treasury Department that missed the oncoming 2008 financial crisis and failed to take any effective action to stop that crisis. [He] did not take action or speak up against Wall Street excesses in advance of the 2008 crisis. Since the crisis he has made his opposition clear to strong regulatory action to prevent the re-emergence of the same risks in the future… The American people need and deserve better in this critical post.”
“Americans for Financial Reform opposes the confirmation of Neomi Rao as Administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA). Professor Rao’s announced views demonstrate an extreme disregard for the independence of financial regulatory agencies and an unwarranted hostility to critical financial protections.”
“HR 5 (the Regulatory Accountability Act), HR 78 (the SEC Regulatory Accountability Act), and HR 238 (the Commodity End User Relief Act) — would severely damage the capacity of the Federal government to protect the public. This legislation would disastrously weaken oversight of major Wall Street institutions and financial markets. Proper oversight of big banks and financial markets is crucial to the economic well-being of workers, families, and communities …The 2008 financial crisis demonstrated beyond doubt that the well-being of America’s working families is dependent on strong and effective regulation of Wall Street financial markets. These three pieces of legislation would cripple the capacity to properly regulate such markets. We urge you to reject all three.”