Tag Archives: Systemic Risk

Event: Americans for Financial Reform Hosts a Conversation with Professor Art Wilmarth

AFR’s Senior Policy Analyst Renita Marcellin hosted a conversation with Professor Art Wilmarth, author of Taming the Megabanks: Why We Need a New Glass-Steagall Act. Professor Wilmarth discussed why structural protections, such as a modern Glass-Steagall Act and the separation between banking and commerce, are necessary in the banking system. They also examined how the erasure of these laws have led to many of the challenges we are currently facing in the financial system including ILCs/special purpose charters, the rise of Fintech firms, and stablecoins and highlighted the urgency of revisiting laws on structural separations in the banking system.

A pair of hands writing on paper with a pen

Letters to Regulators: Letter to the SEC on Addressing Loopholes in Forms 13-F & 13-D Reporting

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.

Federal reserve board

News Release: Fed Stress Tests Unleash Bank Capital Distributions at Expense of Financial Stability

The Federal Reserve has announced the results of its 2021 bank stress tests.  Since then, these results have led a steady parade of the largest banks in the country to announce dramatic increases in dividends.  The stress tests will also enable greater share buybacks and other capital distributions by banks. This will enrich senior executives and large shareholders, while putting financial stability at risk.

Letter to Regulators: The Fed must recognize its own regulatory failures and take action in the wake of Archegos

Americans for Financial Reform Education Fund wrote the Fed to express concerns over the blow-up of the Archegos family fund. This incident reveals both the dangers of excessive leverage at private funds, and the failure of banking regulators, including the Federal Reserve, to properly regulate bank interactions with such funds. To address these issues, the Federal Reserve must investigate its own regulatory failures in this case and publicly disclose the lessons learned from this investigation, and must also work with the Financial Stability Oversight Council to address the risks of excessive leverage at private funds.

News Release: Comment on Biden Administration Executive Order on Tackling the Climate Crisis

The Biden Administration today issued an Executive Order initiating an ambitious government-wide effort to tackle the climate crisis. Just one week into his term, President Biden has already re-entered the U.S. into the Paris Agreement and appointed strong climate leaders. What we need next from the Administration is a more detailed plan for how our federal financial regulators should engage in this effort. Financial regulation and supervision are pivotal tools the Biden Administration can use to help address the climate crisis in an equitable way.