SEC Archives - Page 15 of 21 - Americans for Financial Reform

AFR in the News: SEC Has Revealed Astounding Corruption in Private Equity

“One scam is to fire employees of the private equity firm and rehire them immediately as ‘consultants.’ The investors are responsible for consultants’ salaries, where private equity employees are paid out of their own pockets. Another is taking what most private equity investors believe to be part of management fees, things like legal and compliance costs, and billing their investors for them without the investors properly knowing it. A third is private equity firms lying about the valuation methods they use to tell investors about the returns they make each year. All of these are ways for private equity firms to take money from their investors for themselves.”

AFR in the News: Sheryl Garrett Scoffs at Argument Against Fiduciary Duty

“One investment adviser is sick and tired of the financial industry’s threat that mom-and-pop investors will suffer if investment-advice standards are raised,” writes Mark Schoeff of Investment News. At a media briefing in Washington hosted by the Consumer Federation of America, AARP, the AFL-CIO and Americans for Financial Reform, “Sheryl Garrett, founder of the Garrett Planning Network Inc., said that investors with low net worth can be served in a market where all financial advisers must act in their best interests.”

AFR Calls For More Transparency in Asset Backed Securities

AFR called on the Securities and Exchange Commission to require the release of loan-level data for asset backed securities, which include the ‘toxic assets’ central to the financial crisis. The AFR comment includes a discussion of privacy controls.

AFR Calls on SEC to Strengthen Rules Governing Credit Rating Agencies

AFR, AFSCME, and the SEIU today sent the letter below to the Securities and Exchange Commission calling on the Commission to reproprose and strengthen its rules governing credit rating agencies. Conflicts of interest and deceptive practices at credit rating agencies were central to the 2008 financial crisis and continue to pose a threat to the economy today.

AFR Urges SEC to Include Investor Protections in JOBS Act Rulemaking

AFR submitted a letter to the SEC expressing deep concern that the rules proposed by the Commission regarding the JOBS Act fail to deliver important investor protections.

More than 116,000 Individuals and Organizations Support SEC Action on Corporate Pay-Ratio Disclosure

During an initial consultation period, the SEC received more than 20,000 letters, overwhelmingly in favor of the pay-ratio requirement. Since the Commission issued its proposed rule in September, more than 116,000 individuals and organizations, including Americans for Financial Reform, have submitted letters urging the SEC to stand firm.

AFR Urges Strengthened Investor Protection in SEC General Solicitation Rule

AFR supports SEC rule proposals to strengthen protections for investors in private offerings, but urges the SEC to do more to reduce the risk of fraud and misleading practices.

SEC Moves Forward on Municipal Finance Abuses

“For too many years, dealers and advisors in the municipal market have felt free to give self-serving advice designed to generate more profits for them at the expense of their clients… Properly implemented, [today’s rule] should curtail the abuse and provide enormous benefits for taxpayers and investors.”

AFR Applauds SEC’S Release of CEO-to-Median-Worker Pay Rule

In the end, the Commission stood firm against industry resistance to a common-sense disclosure requirement. The SEC also correctly insisted that part-time and overseas workers be included in the calculation, consistent with the language and intent of the statute.

AFR Appeals for Strong SEC Action to Regulate International Derivatives

Overseas affiliates of U.S. banks played a major role in the final meltdown of 2008-2009, at a cost of millions of jobs and trillions of dollars. Financial institutions must not be allowed to escape oversight by “off-shoring” their riskiest deals.