Joint Letter: Protect Investors, Reappoint PCAOB Chairman Doty

“We are writing in response to recent press accounts discussing the reappointment or possible replacement of the current PCAOB Chairman James Doty. We are concerned that these reports undermine Chairman Doty and his efforts to improve the independence and quality of public company audits. We urge you to lay this speculation to rest by quickly announcing his reappointment as Chair.”

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Letter to Congress and Administration: AFR and 166 Organizations Oppose Financial Policy Riders

With a government shutdown narrowly averted and budget negotiations moving into a potentially volatile final stage, more than 160 national, state and local organizations are telling lawmakers and the Administration not to let the process be used to force through ideological spending riders that would block financial reform or undermine the funding or authority of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

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Letter to Regulators: AFR Submits Comment on the SEC’s Proposed Title VII “Bad Actor” Waiver Process

“We believe that it is important that the Commission work to establish true mechanisms for accountability. One way to do that is to develop procedures that allow for public transparency into exemptions and exclusions from prohibitions triggered by statutory disqualifications… We welcome the formalized Proposed Rule of Practice 194, which creates an opportunity for enhanced clarity for both the public and the financial industry. “

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Letter to Regulators: AFR Encourages Treasury to Monitor Peer to Peer Lending

“Americans for Financial Reform (AFR) is pleased to submit these responses to the RFI issued by the Department of the Treasury. The extraordinary diversity of on-line lending models and the rapid growth of the sector mean that continued monitoring will be necessary and the sector will likely fall into the purview of multiple regulators. We encourage the Treasury Department to remain active in determining the appropriate regulatory models, and we will further examine the responses to this RFI with interest to evaluate what types of regulation seem appropriate.”

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Letter to Regulators: AFR Supports CFTC Proposal to Toughen Cross Border Margin Rules; Urges Broader Reexamination of Cross Border Regulation

“In numerous previous comments, AFR has raised serious concerns about the Commission rules and guidance that exempt foreign subsidiaries of U.S. banks, or U.S. subsidiaries of foreign entities that are highly active on Wall Street, from a wide range of Dodd-Frank derivatives rules. Given the global character of the derivatives market, we believe that such cross-border exemptions create the possibility for large-scale evasion of U.S. rules.”

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Letter to Regulators: AFR Supports SEC Proposal to Recover Erroneously Awarded Executive Compensation

“AFR supports this proposal to require the recovery of erroneously awarded executive compensation as a condition for exchange listing. Failures in corporate governance have been singled out by many observers, including the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission, as a significant cause of the global financial crisis. “

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Letter to Regulators: AFR Joins 31 Organizations in Cautioning Against Potential Loopholes in CFPB’s Prepaid Card Proposal

“The undersigned consumer and civil rights organizations write to urge you to issue final prepaid card rules that prevent payday lenders and other predatory lenders from attaching dangerous credit features to the cards. We appreciate the strong elements of the proposed rules, which recognize that overdraft services are a form of credit and that credit accessed through cards must have the robust protections of the Credit CARD Act. While the proposed rules will stop some abuses, we are concerned that loopholes in the proposal can be exploited.”

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Letters to Regulators: Organizations Weigh in on Treasury’s Peer to Peer Lending

“…responses to the RFI issued by the Department of the Treasury. The extraordinary diversity of on-line lending models and the rapid growth of the sector mean that continued monitoring will be necessary and the sector will likely fall into the purview of multiple regulators. We encourage the Treasury Department to remain active in determining the appropriate regulatory models, and we will further examine the responses to this RFI with interest to evaluate what types of regulation seem appropriate.”

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