Americans for Financial Reform

05/29/2026

Today's SEC proposal to repeal its 2024 disclosure rule on climate-related financial risk for large public companies is a sweeping reinterpretation of the agency’s disclosure authority and will leave investors and markets without critical information.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 29, 2026CONTACT: Jarice Thompson, [email protected] Washington DC – Today, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) proposed to repeal its 2024 disclosure rule on climate-related financial risk for large public companies. In doing so, it claimed a sweepi...

05/19/2026

AFR Education Fund recently submitted a letter to the Financial Stability Oversight Council opposing the administration’s effort to weaken oversight of nonbank financial firms. If implemented, the guidance’s proposed policies would heighten the threat of systemic risk across the financial system.
AFREF also submitted a joint letter with Public Citizen & Sierra Club on the growth of climate-related systemic financial risk that threatens large nonbank financial institutions like property insurers.

You can view both letters here ⬇️

AFR Education Fund submitted a letter to the Financial Stability Oversight Council opposing the administration's effort to weaken oversight of nonbank financial firms.

05/14/2026

Today, the crypto industry-drafted CLARITY Act passed out of the Senate Banking Committee on a largely party line vote. All Committee Republicans and two Democrats voted yes on this dangerous bill.
Unions, consumer advocates, law enforcement, state regulators and many others strongly opposed the bill due to the many dangerous, deregulatory measures in it.
U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren called out CLARITY's dangerous deregulatory loopholes and introduced many amendments in an attempt to lessen the damage. None were accepted. Several did not even get to be discussed.
While the bill's passage out of Committee brings it closer to the floor, this wasn't the big win the crypto industry spent hundreds of millions to achieve. Even with all that pressure, four Senators who voted yes on crypto legislation last year voted no on today's bill.
Senators now have a choice. Vote for this dangerous bill that rewards crypto billionaires, enables corruption & could usher in a new financial crisis? OR stand up for people, heed the warnings & stop CLARITY from becoming reality

Write your Senator ⬇️
https://actionnetwork.org/letters/stop-the-latest-crypto-industry-scam/

Read AFR's Press Release ⬇️
https://ourfinancialsecurity.org/news/press-release-afr-condemns-committee-approval-of-dangerous-crypto-legislation-urges-full-senate-to-reject-billionaire-backed-crypto-bill/

05/14/2026

Markup for H.R.3633, the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act, begins shortly at 10:30AM ET! We'll be watching to see which Senators speak out to protect consumers and who instead caters to the crypto billionaires. https://www.banking.senate.gov/hearings/05/08/2026/executive-session

Last August, a handful of U.S. Senate Democrats 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.

Read our latest commentary on the deeply flawed crypto bill being discussed on Thursday➡️ https://ourfinancialsecurity.org/news/deeply-flawed-crypto-bill-inches-forward-in-senate/

05/13/2026

Last August, a handful of U.S. Senate Democrats 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.

Read our latest commentary on the deeply flawed crypto bill being discussed on Thursday➡️ https://ourfinancialsecurity.org/news/deeply-flawed-crypto-bill-inches-forward-in-senate/

05/13/2026

Today, Senate Democrats are taking over the Senate floor to force a series of 20 votes to reverse Donald Trump’s roll back of rules that protect American consumers and lower their costs. Here's what you need to know ➡️

In 2025, the Trump-Vought CFPB rescinded 67 policies designed to protect consumers from unfair practices like lending discrimination, harassment in debt collection tactics, and surprise junk fees—and to help families access affordable credit. In the midst of a growing affordability crisis where pe...

05/13/2026

Congress is considering HR 4801, the Unleashing AI Innovation in Financial Services Act, a dangerous bill that lets big banks seek broad waivers from existing civil rights, consumer protection & other laws while they experiment with AI.

AFR joined 89 groups in a recent letter to oppose it: https://ourfinancialsecurity.org/government/letters-to-congress-afr-joined-by-89-groups-to-oppose-financial-ai-sandbox-giveaway/

Please write to your rep and let them know you don't want AI "unleashed" in financial services!

Congress is considering H.R. 4801, the Unleashing AI Innovation in Financial Services Act, a dangerous bill that would let big banks and other financial firms seek broad waivers from existing civil rights, consumer protection, and financial stability laws while they experiment with artificial intell...

05/12/2026

The Senate’s confirmation of Kevin Warsh is a threat — not just to the Fed’s independence from the president, but to the safety and soundness of our country’s banking system.
Last month, AFR’s Maya Jenkins wrote about the Trump administration’s deregulatory banking agenda & the leading role Kevin Warsh will play in its implementation. Read more here:

Financial headlines these days are dominated by chaos and uncertainty. Families across the country face soaring prices that have only gotten worse with the war in Iran. Worries abound over an artificial intelligence bubble, oil price shocks, gyrations in crypto, and rising default rates in the priva...

05/08/2026

More PE layoffs: Beginning May 18th, Family Dollar will lay off nearly 400 workers. This comes after the company was purchased by private equity firms last year

The discount retailer will lay off 373 employees starting in May as it shutters its facility in a Charlotte suburb.

05/07/2026

Fossil fuel companies account for 64% of private equity firms’ energy portfolios, down just 1% from 2025. At this pace, private equity would not fully exit fossil fuels until at least 2090

With a wide range of holdings, from oil fields to coal-fired power plants to natural gas terminals, these 20 firms control a significant share of our energy economy. Our data shows that for most of the private equity firms, fossil fuel companies make up a majority of each energy portfolio. Their dec...