Reining In Wall Street

What's New

Senate Passes Historic Financial Reform

On May 20th, the U.S. Senate passed the Restoring American Financial Stability Act, which includes a strong, independent Consumer Financial Protection Agency, opens up the shadow markets where derivatives are traded, and prevents banks from becoming ‘too big to fail.’”

Fllorida PIRG backed the legislation and successfully fought back several attempts to weaken it on the Senate floor. The bill now moves to a conference committee, where we will continue to work for the strongest possible consumer protections.

How did your Senator vote?

Florida PIRG's Senator Scorecard scores Senators on their votes on key amendments. Did they vote for Wall Street or for Main Street on the Restoring America’s Financial Security Act of 2010?

The Senator Scorecard looks at ten key amendments and the final vote, and gives each Senator a final "public interest" grade.

Click here to go to the Senator Scorecard page

What Wall Street Reform Means to You

The historic Wall Street reform legislation passed by the Senate last night will have an impact on Main Street as well as Wall Street. The big banks will make every effort to dilute the bill in the House-Senate conference. Congress must assure that nothing is done to weaken the legislation, that the strongest provisions of each bill make it into the final version and that potential loopholes are closed.

Here are the key provisions that will provide all Americans with economic stability.

• Real consumer protection: independent from the biggest banks that have put their profits ahead of us. Now credit cards and mortgages will offer terms in language we can all understand. It will also offer help for those abused by predatory lenders.

• Mortgage reforms: For the first time lenders are prohibited from making loans that borrowers cannot repay, and banned from receiving kickbacks for steering people into high rate loans when they qualify for lower rates.

• Ending the casino economy and bringing sunlight to shadowy derivatives market: The $600 trillion derivatives market will now have the light of day shining on the market (with exchange trading) and be held accountable with capital requirements (with clearing).

• Putting the brakes on risky speculation to prevent future crises and tax payer bailouts: Unregulated shadow banks like AIG will face strict oversight for the first time and our biggest, riskiest banks will have tougher leverage and capital requirements. When a financial firm does run into trouble, it will face a new liquidation regime so that we don’t need to bail it out or prop it up—it will be put out of business.

• Strong investor protections: Enhanced shareholder rights will allow for a say on pay of executives and give long-term shareholders a meaningful voice in holding corporate directors accountable. Additionally credit ratings agencies will not be just the handmaidens of the biggest financial institutions. Better controls at rating agencies hold them accountable for the reliability of their reporting.

How You Can Help

Tell Senate Banking Committee Chairman Dodd: Don't give in to Wall Street scare tactics.

We can't stop the deceptive doublespeak of Wall Street's lobbyists, but we can put an end to the deceptive practices and wild speculation that brought down our economy.

We can, but we need your help to make sure Sen. Dodd doesn't give in to the war of words.

Overview

More than a year after Wall Street's reckless dealings triggered the worst economic crisis since the Depression, we're still waiting for Congress to enact the changes that could keep it from happening all over again.

We need a financial system that works for consumers, small investors and taxpayers while holding Wall Street bankers accountable for their bad behavior.

That's why Florida PIRG is pushing for reform, so that no Wall Street firm gets too-big-to-fail, and so consumers are protected from unfair practices ranging from predatory mortgages to "gotcha" overdraft fees.

Even though the banks took billions of dollars of taxpayers money, the big banks and Wall Street are lobbying hard to block reform.

But we have a real opportunity to reform the financial system that failed.

Leading the charge is Ed Mierzwinski, our consumer program director and a 20-year Capitol Hill veteran. Whether he's making our case at Congress or on cable news, Mierzwinski is one of the strongest public interest voices on financial reform in Washington. Mierzwinski also helped found of Americans for Financial Reform, a coalition of which Florida PIRG is a member.

Working with our allies, and with support of Florida PIRG members, we are making progress.

In December, the House of Representatives narrowly approved the Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, despite the outcry from lobbyists representing the financial industry.

But the fight's not over. We need your help to pass a strong version of the bill in the Senate.

We're gathering support for a bill that would:

• Put consumers and taxpayers before big banks. Check irresponsible financial practices with new rules and stronger, independent enforcement. We’re supporting a new Consumer Financial Protection Agency.

• Cover all players and transactions. Rein in hedge funds and reckless investments that escaped regulations and traded without oversight on “shadow markets.”

• Prevent financial institutions from becoming “too big to fail.” Banks shouldn’t be able to freely gamble with taxpayer money covering the bets.

• And we support greater oversight, accountability and democratization of the Federal Reserve.

Please take action today, by clicking here.

Small business owner Janet Long discusses the importance of financial reform for small businesses at a U.S. PIRG-organized event in South Bend, Indiana in April, 2010. For more financial reform videos click here.

Elizabeth Warren, head of the Congressional Oversight Panel, and Harvard Law School professor, explains to Communications Director Jane Regan why America needs a Consumer Financial Protection Agency.

News

Washington, D.C.: Consumer Groups Praise the CFPA

Washington, D.C.: U.S. PIRG Helps Launch Coalition to Clean Up Wall Street

To listen to a recording of the June 16 telephone press conference, click here.

Resources

Read Ed Mierzwinski’s article Regulation as Civic Empowerment in the American Prospect July/August 2009: The Credit Crisis and Working America

Read Ed Mierzwinski's Testimony Before the House Committee on Financial Services Regarding Financial Regulatory Reform (7/16/2009)

Listen to Ed Mierzwinski on American Public Radio's "Marketplace" talking about bank regulation on May 20, 2009

Consumer tips for the downturn

Read Consumer Program Director Ed Mierzwinski’s blog

Reports

New Survey Finds One In Four Credit Reports Contain Serious Errors 6/17/2004

Deflate Your Rate: How To Lower Your Credit Card APR 3/27/2002

Mistakes Do Happen: Credit Report Errors Mean Consumers Lose 3/01/1998

More Reports

Financial Reform Platform

If money to stabilize the markets was necessary, then the package passed by Congress should have included the following mandatory safeguards for taxpayers and homeowners. Policy-makers, acting quickly, did not include any safeguards and need to be educated about the need to adopt the following:

(1)   Most importantly, protect taxpayers by protecting homeowners. Allow bankruptcy court-supervised loan modifications to prevent foreclosure, maintain neighborhood property values and lower the cost of the bailout.

(2)   Protect taxpayer investments: Strengthen oversight of any money spent and give taxpayers a better chance to make their money back through equity stakes in both firms and their assets.

(3)   Other reforms to the bailout proposal that are necessary include the following: It lacks adequate controls over executive compensation; it fails to include enough mandatory provisions to prevent gaming of the bailout system; it fails to adequately penalize participants for bad behavior.

ISSUES