SWSLA Archives - Americans for Financial Reform

News Release: New Legislation Needed to Curb Private Equity Abuses

The Stop Wall Street Looting Act of 2024 includes new measures to curb the growing power of private equity across the board and in key sectors of the economy like healthcare, and to penalize private equity firms and executives for their actions that harm a company and its workers even after they no longer control it. Lessons from the 2023 collapse of Steward Health Care, which stemmed from its 2010 buyout by private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management, shaped the new provisions.

NEWS RELEASE: Private Equity is Financing the Climate Crisis Away from Public Scrutiny

A new report finds that the private equity industry owned close to 700 utility-scale power generation facilities in the United States in 2021 that emitted about 200 million metric tons of carbon dioxide annually.

Fact Sheet: Stop Wall Street Looting Act of 2021 Provisions

A section-by-section of Sen. Warren’s plan to address the predatory elements of the private equity business model that harm workers, investors, and communities.

Fact Sheet: Stop Private Equity from Driving Retailers into Bankruptcy, Destroying Jobs and Livelihoods

Private equity has had a disastrous impact on the retail industry, driving dozens of firms into bankruptcy, shutting down tens of thousands of stores, and costing hundreds of thousands of jobs nationwide.

Fact Sheet: Stop Private Equity-Owned Nursing Homes from Extracting Profits at the Expense of Care

Private equity firms have bought up thousands of nursing homes across the country, lowering the quality of care and harming residents.

Fact Sheet: The Stop Wall Street Looting Act: End Private Equity’s Predatory Practices

By creating accountability for the Wall Street tycoons who lead private equity takeovers and reversing the policies that enable wealth extraction, this set of policies can protect workers, families, and communities.

Fact Sheet: Private Equity is the Driving Force Behind Surprise Medical Billing

Private equity firms have driven much of the rise in surprise billing that threatens the financial stability of vulnerable patients as well as families’ health and peace of mind.

Blog Post: Private Equity Profiteering from Incarceration, Tools of Police Brutality

Private equity firms often profit from mass incarceration and they expand inherently racists business practices in communities of color. Private equity is behind manufacturers of weapons used against people protesting police brutality against the Black community.

Fact Sheet: Private Equity Industry Poised to Profit from the Federal Reserve’s New Lending Programs

Private equity funds could access government assistance for their portfolio companies while avoiding any responsibility to repay any debt or obligations to the public purse. Private equity firms could also tap government aid to finance leveraged buyout purchases of additional companies, using public money to load target companies with debt and drain their assets while avoiding any responsibility for paying that debt back.

NEWS RELEASE: Private Equity Looting Drove J. Crew Bankruptcy

Private equity firms loaded J. Crew with debt and hid assets away from investors and creditors.