Letters to the Regulators: Letter in Support of Providing Relief and Protections Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act to Victims of Coerced Debt

Americans for Financial Reform Education Fund (AFREF) submitted a comment letter supporting a petition from the National Consumer Law Center and the Center for Survivor Agency and Justice asking the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to provide relief to victims of coerced debt under the Fair Credit Reporting Act. The petition would provide critically needed relief […]

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Letters to the Regulators: AFREF Submitted Comments to the Federal Trade Commission and Department of Justice on the Negative Impacts of Serial Acquisitions and Roll-Up Strategies

AFREF submitted comments to the Federal Trade Commission and Department of Justice on serial acquisitions and roll-up strategies and their impact on competition, the market, workers, consumers, and communities. Decades of unchecked mergers, driven largely by private equity, have consolidated economic power and raised consumer prices, suppressed workers’ wages, undermined the ability to form and sustain […]

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Letters to the Regulators: AFR-EF Comments in Support of Homeowner Protections in FHA Note Sales, Against Corporate Consolidation of Housing

AFR-EF submitted comments on the HUD’s Single Family Home Sale Program in support of improved borrower protections for homeowners impacted by FHA note sales. AFR-EF also called on the FHA to change practices that allow private equity and other corporate landlords access to large note pools, highlighting the negative impacts on homeowners and their neighborhoods. […]

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Letters to Congress: Letter in Opposition to anti-ESG bills that threaten workers’ retirement security and our financial system, and weaken tools of corporate accountability

AFR led a coalition of 39 partner organizations in a letter to Speaker Mike Johnson and Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries opposing H.R. 4790 and H.R. 5339. These bills are part of a broader campaign against common sense investment practices and would undermine workers’ retirement security, weaken corporate accountability, and compromise the integrity of our financial […]

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Amicus Brief: Chamber of Commerce v. CFPB Amicus Brief filed

Americans for Financial Reform recently joined Democracy Forward and several consumer protection organizations in an amicus brief in Chamber of Commerce v. CFPB, which was filed in the 5th Circuit in August 2024. This brief supports the CFPB’s 2022 clarification in its Supervision and Examination Manual that “discriminatory acts or practices” in the provision of […]

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Letters to the Regulators: AFREF and CRL comment on racial disparities in medical debt are rooted in structural racism

Americans for Financial Reform Education Fund and the Center for Responsible Lending support the rule to prohibit creditors and consumer reporting agencies from using medical debt information for credit eligibility determinations. The rule is essential to protect families from the negative impacts of medical debt on their health and their finances. But the rule is […]

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Letters to the Regulators: AFREF oppose NYSE/SEC proposal to end shareholder meetings for closed-end funds

View or download a PDF of the letter here. The Americans for Financial Reform Education Fund today submitted a comment opposing a proposal by the New York Stock Exchange and the Securities and Exchange Commission that would end annual shareholder meetings for closed-end funds. Closed-end The post Letters to the Regulators: AFREF oppose NYSE/SEC proposal […]

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Letters to the Regulators: AFREF Comment to SEC/FinCEN on Customer Identification Programs for Private Funds and Venture Capital

The Americans for Financial Reform Education Fund submitted a comment to the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Department of Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) supporting the proposal to require the $125 trillion in Registered Investment Advisers (RIAs) and Exempt Reporting Advisers (mainly Venture Capital) to implement Customer Identification Programs to better understand who […]

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Fact Sheet: Proposed Capital One-Discover Merger Fails to Meet Bank Merger Act Requirements

The proposed acquisition of Discover by Capital One would create the sixth-largest bank in the United States, with $624 billion in domestic assets. This transaction fails to meet the public interest conditions under the Bank Merger Act that directs banking regulators to reject mergers, like the Capital One-Discover transaction, that fail to further the convenience […]

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Fact Sheet: Antitrust Implications of the Proposed Capital One-Discover Merger

The proposed Capital One takeover of Discover would create a mammoth bank that would undermine competition, raise prices, and harm consumers. The merger would create the biggest credit card lender — holding nearly one-third of credit card loans to consumers with non-prime credit scores — and put Capital One in a position to use its market power […]

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