Tag Archives: SEC

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Letter to the Regulators: Letter to the SEC on Finalizing the ESG Funds Disclosures Rule to Protect Investors from Greenwashing and Other Misleading Claims

AFREF and 18 additional signatories wrote to the SEC in support of bringing much-needed disclosures to the vast market of ESG-designated products and services. The letter urges the SEC to finalize the rule titled “Enhanced Disclosures by Certain Investment Advisers and Investment Companies about Environmental, Social, and Governance Investment Practices” as soon as possible and recommends changes to the way the proposed rule addresses disclosure of metrics by ESG-Focused Funds. These changes would improve the rule by generating disclosures that better reflect ESG-Focused Funds’ varied strategies and priority metrics while alleviating concerns expressed by some commenters.

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Letters to the Regulators: Letter Urging The SEC to Repropose the Stock Buybacks Disclosure Rule

Americans for Financial Reform Education Fund (AFREF) led a letter with 13 additional signatories urging the SEC to repropose the stock buybacks disclosure rule to provide investors with information about this widespread yet opaque practice. This important rule was struck down by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals following a challenge by the Chamber of Commerce.

SEC Building

Letters to Congress: Urging Action on $5 Trillion Exempt Offerings/Private Markets

Americans for Financial Reform today wrote to the House Financial Services Committee’s Subcommittee on National Security, Illicit Finance, and International Financial Institutions urging members to rely on existing authority by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in order to gain more transparency into the $5 trillion private markets (“exempt offerings” under SEC Rule 144A and Reg D) to address national security concerns.

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News Release: SEC Must Stand Up to Industry Attacks and Re-Propose Buybacks Rule

The Securities and Exchange Commission should re-propose its rule on disclosures of stock buybacks as soon as possible now that the unreasonably tight deadline for a court-mandated revision of the rule has passed. The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, alleging “defects” in a rule designed to bring transparency to stock buybacks, gave the SEC 30 days to revise the rule – an impossibly short time frame it then refused to extend upon the SEC’s request. The ruling came in response to a lawsuit by the Chamber of Commerce.

News Release: New SEC Private Fund Rules Can Help Stop Ripoff of Retirement Savers

Washington, D.C. – New investor protections announced today by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) have the potential to curb widespread practices that have allowed Wall Street’s $25 trillion private fund industry to harvest tens of billions in fees at the expense of public pensions, retirees, and other savers – all to the advantage of some of the richest people in the world.

Letters to the Regulators: Letter to the SEC Supporting the Prohibition of Conflicts of Interests in Securitization

Americans for Financial Reform Education Fund submitted a comment to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) supporting its proposal to prohibit conflicts of interest in securitizations. Such conflicts were at the heart of the Great Financial Crisis of 2008 leading to trillions of dollars in losses across the financial system and irreparable harm to millions of homeowners. Now, with the growth in securitizations such as those backed by commercial real estate and other assets, the SEC’s proposals can ensure that similar practices do not happen again at the harm of investors and others.