Americans for Financial Reform
@ourfinancialsecurity
AFR is a nonpartisan and nonprofit coalition of more than 200 civil rights, consumer, labor, business, investor, faith-based, and civic and community groups. We are working to lay the foundation for a strong, stable, and ethical financial system.
Yesterday's private bailout of a former FTX employee's hedge fund is not an isolated incident. Margin debt is at an all time high, and investors across the board are borrowing money to bet big on AI.
The top 5 tech companies' debt is already greater than the subprime mortgage market at its peak before the 2008 crash. As the AI bubble burst looms, AFREF's Maya Jenkins & @openmarkets.bsky.social Matt Scherer explore consequences in today's @BostonGlobe op-ed: www.bostonglobe.com/2026/07/30/o...
We have a real chance, against huge odds, that the crypto industry's deregulatory agenda can be blocked this year. Key Senators may still cave in the face of constant and overwhelming industry pressure. We need your help to push back!
The so-called CLARITY Act is fatally flawed. It contains weak or nonexistent consumer protections, gaps in illicit finance rules, huge exemptions, and lax oversight. If the bill passes, the industry's predatory business model could be locked in for a generation.
If confirmed, Trump's USPS Board nominees could seek to put in place postal policies that would disrupt rural mail service and interfere with election mail. ourfinancialsecurity.org/news/press-r...
Rep. Rashida Tlaib connected record complaints and roughly $16 billion in fraud losses last year to pulled-back enforcement, dropped cases, staff cuts, and revoked guidance. ourfinancialsecurity.org/resources/as...
@pressley.house.gov confronted Vought for rescinding a rule that kept medical debt off credit reports. Families facing cancer or an accident need relief—not another way for debt to follow them.
Ranking Member @repmaxinewaters.bsky.social reminded Vought why the CFPB exists: it has obtained more than $21 billion in relief for over 200 million people. Four in five voters support the CFPB after hearing about its mission. ourfinancialsecurity.org/resources/20...
Our new poll with Center for Responsible Lending shows 80% of midterm voters support the CFPB. “There is a massive disconnect between Congressional Republicans’ push to loosen Wall Street regulations, and what midterm voters actually want.” -Tom Feltner, AFR ourfinancialsecurity.org/news/press-r...
Nearly nine in ten Democrats (89%) and three quarters of independents and Republicans are concerned about the dangers of laws about crypto shaped by campaign donations from the crypto industry. ourfinancialsecurity.org/resources/20...
The crypto industry and its allies in Congress are pushing for a vote on the CLARITY Act on the Senate floor. The bill as currently written contains no provisions to address the corruption or conflicts of interest that the industry is known for.
“Voters have seen serious crypto corruption and high ranking government officials raking in profits while everyday people experience crypto-fueled losses and scams.” -Mark Hays, AFR's associate director of crypto & fintech www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...
"Congress and future regulators need to step in — ideally before regular investors suffer significant losses." - Natalia Renta, AFR Read our recommendations on what Congress can do to protect retirement savers in this new climate ⬇️ buff.ly/aSjwFjr
An estimated 33.5% of the US stock market is passively owned. Millions of invested retirees, workers and their families rely on a set of financial industry intermediaries, regulators and lawmakers to protect this investment strategy. But new changes now threaten that.
Today Rep. Maxine Waters & Natalia Renta, AFR's associate director of corporate governance & power, sounded the alarm on how new changes to the rules governing passive investments will harm workers, retirees and families. Full testimony on AFR's website: buff.ly/F3KuPTX
New legislation to raise the tax on corporate stock buybacks from 1% to 4% would generate $166 billion in revenue over the next decade, and encourage companies to reinvest in workers and innovation instead of inflating their share prices. buff.ly/I1DErfl
Instead of investing in workers or innovation, firms use stock buybacks to juice executive compensation & manipulate market valuations.
Stock buybacks are when a company purchases its own shares, resulting in fewer outstanding shares and an artificially higher share price.
Stock buybacks have hit a record high. In the past 8 years, 100 of the biggest US corporations have used the Trump-GOP tax cuts to help repurchase $4.8 trillion of their own stock, according to a new analysis by @4taxfairness.bsky.social Report: americansfortaxfairness.org/new-analysis...
To make matters worse, SpaceX is pushing the boundaries of how much control one person can have over a public company. SpaceX is going public with Musk controlling 85% of votes. He is the only one who can fire himself as CEO or board chair. buff.ly/dGvoBko
Concern over Friday’s SpaceX IPO continues to grow. @warren.senate.gov is now calling on the SEC to delay, citing risks to investors and market stability. Letter: buff.ly/SjzuSaf Why is SpaceX IPO a big deal? 🧵⬇️
This Consumer Advocacy Day advocates from across the nation are in DC to demand Congress: ✅️ Restore the CFPB’s full funding level to 𝐚𝐭 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐭 12% ✅️ Protect its independent funding mechanism ✅️ Defend the agency’s critical complaint system ✅️ Stand up for the CFPB & #ProtectConsumers ! #CAD2026
@smith.senate.gov introduced a version of @durbin.senate.gov‘s No Bailout for Crypto Act, which would have prevented the use of taxpayer funds to bailout crypto firms when they crash (it was voted down on partisan lines)
The CLARITY Act is bad from the start - it leaves crypto consumers w/ less protection and more risk, and contains loopholes gutting protections for all investors, even if they never touch crypto.
Last August, a handful of @democrats.senate.gov said they'd only accept crypto legislation that met certain principles. The latest version of the Senate crypto legislation not only doesn’t meet that standard, it puts our whole economy at risk. ourfinancialsecurity.org/news/deeply-...
Meanwhile new analysis shows the carried interest loophole lets PE titans unfairly avoid paying even more - tens of billions of dollars more - in taxes than previously thought. ourfinancialsecurity.org/news/the-car...
Private equity corporate landlords are contributing to the housing affordability crisis & making things worse for first time homebuyers, manufactured housing residents & renters. We can reverse these trends if legislators are willing to take on PE & fight for legislation that reigns in its abuses.
The 20 different Joint Resolutions of Disapproval (JRD) filed by @democrats.senate.gov stand up for everyday people by pushing back on the anti-consumer Trump-Vought agenda.
“The Trump Administration should be strictly enforcing our fair lending and consumer protection laws so everyone has a fair shot at buying a home or starting a small business – instead of rolling back safeguards that protect borrowers from discrimination.” - @warren.senate.gov 🔍️ buff.ly/aqxw8BI
In response @warren.senate.gov said: “Today’s report underscores just how far away Wells Fargo is from cleaning up its long history of customer abuses. Regulators must immediately investigate this disturbing new evidence of racial disparities in Wells Fargo’s mortgage lending." buff.ly/aqxw8BI