AFR, AFSCME, and the SEIU today sent the letter below to the Securities and Exchange Commission calling on the Commission to reproprose and strengthen its rules governing credit rating agencies. Conflicts of interest and deceptive practices at credit rating agencies were central to the 2008 financial crisis and continue to pose a threat to the economy today.
AFR submitted a letter to the SEC expressing deep concern that the rules proposed by the Commission regarding the JOBS Act fail to deliver important investor protections.
AFR supports SEC rule proposals to strengthen protections for investors in private offerings, but urges the SEC to do more to reduce the risk of fraud and misleading practices.
Overseas affiliates of U.S. banks played a major role in the final meltdown of 2008-2009, at a cost of millions of jobs and trillions of dollars. Financial institutions must not be allowed to escape oversight by “off-shoring” their riskiest deals.
AFR and its member organizations warn against a proposal that would “severely weaken” the independence measures called for by the Dodd-Frank financial reform law. “A Board dominated by employees of major banks and dealers with subsidiaries active in the municipal market will not be a truly independent Board.”
SEC faulted on proposed capital, margin, and segregation requirements for Security-Based Swap Dealers (“SBSDs”), and capital requirements for Broker Dealers.
As speculative interest increases, this vital industrial commodity will be withdrawn from the market, and prices for real-economy businesses and consumers will increase.
In a joint letter, AFR urges the SEC and CFTC not to exempt this common type of financial guarantee, which closely resembles a swap, from new derivatives rules.
In an Oct. 23 letter, AFR urged the Securities and Exchange Commission not to to approve the organization and marketing of a commodity Exchange Traded Fund based on the storage of physical copper. Allowing speculators to hoard this vital industrial metal would damage the economy and set a dangerous precedent, the letter warned.
In a joint comment letter submitted today to the Securities and Exchange Commission, AFR and AFL-CIO expressed strong opposition to the agency’s proposed rule lifting the ban on general solicitation and advertising in private offerings. The groups called on the SEC to withdraw the rule proposal and issue a new rule incorporating reasonable safeguards to protect investors and promote market integrity.