Wall Street’s private equity barons smashed previous records to complete $1.2 trillion worth of acquisitions in the United States in 2021, an all-time record. Globally, the industry gobbled up companies worth $2.1 trillion. The new acquisitions and the massive debts the industry generates is creating the risk of “the dotcom boom meeting with the financial crisis,” according to one insider.
Today’s proposals from the Securities and Exchange Commission would shed greater light on the investments and activities of what’s now become a massive $11.5 trillion private market.
AFREF led a letter calling on the SEC’s Division of Corporation Finance to rescind the 2010 Ford Motor Credit no-action letter that exempts Credit Rating Agencies from legal liability.
AFREF submitted a comment letter to the Securities and Exchange Commission supporting several changes to Rule 10c-1 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 that would provide investors and regulators with significantly more information into the currently opaque $1.5 trillion securities lending market.
Americans for Financial Reform is encouraged by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) proposals to address several long-standing loopholes exploited by financial market participants and provide greater transparency to investors and address issues of safety and soundness across the financial system.
AFR sent a letter to the House Financial Services Committee expressing support for several draft bills that would provide great investor protection ahead of the October 5 oversight hearing of the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Americans for Financial Reform Education Fund and the Communication Workers of America sent a letter to the Securities and Exchange Commission urging that the Commission close critical loopholes and exemptions that currently exist in its Forms 13-F and 13-D reports that have been intentionally exploited by hedge fund investors. By doing so, hedge funds can no longer utilize derivatives and other complex financial instruments to build large positions and ambush the management of companies.
The Securities and Exchange Commission should use the full scope of its authority to increase transparency and reduce hidden risks to investors and markets from the private equity industry, according to a letter from 15 public interest groups.
AFREF alongside 14 other signers submitted a letter to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) raising several abuses from the private equity industry and ways the Commission can directly address them
Lordstown Motors was supposed to be a promising electric vehicle startup backed by General Motors that would help revolutionize low-emissions vehicles while also revitalizing America’s “Rust Belt”. Instead, many of its promises, exploiting the loopholes in the SPAC model, were soon found to be untrue, reiterating the important changes that need to be made to the business model of companies taken public through SPACs.