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Articles by Bryan Bashur
Bank Supervisors’ Opaque Examination Activities Shroud the Realities of “Debanking”
The battle over freezing and closing bank accounts is coming to a head. “Debanking,” as it is more commonly known, is not simply a result of banks willingly closing accounts; it is a product of the complex bank supervisory structure run by federal banking regulators. The Federal Reserve, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), and Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) each regulate and supervise banks depending on their charter.
How the Congressional Review Act will Impact Financial Rules in 2025
Authored by Bryan Bashur Republican control of the U.S. House, Senate, and executive branch opens the opportunity to repeal several financial regulations under the Congressional Review Act (CRA). In 1996, the CRA was enacted as a part of the larger Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act. This statute authorizes Congress to introduce joint resolutions of disapproval to nullify final rules that have been published in the Federal Register and submitted to Congress.
Private Funds Offer a Multitude of Options for Transparency
Regulators continue to wrongly clamor about the so-called “opacity” of loans to private businesses. When regulators, such as the ones that make up the Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC), proclaim there is too much opacity they fail to recognize (1) the differences between private funds, mutual funds, and depository institutions, and (2) the multitude of documentation that is already available.
ATR Organizes Coalition Letter in Response to FDIC’s RFI on Deposits
Today, a coalition of center-right organizations sent a letter to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) in response to a request for information (RFI) on deposits. The comment letter primarily discusses why efforts to increase the federal deposit insurance threshold are misguided. You can read the full letter here.
Comparing Bank and Nonbank Risk is an Apples and Oranges Situation - Americans for Tax Reform
Pundits and academics are erroneously trying to prove that banks and nonbank financial institutions, such as insurance and asset management firms, pose similar or even equivalent risks to the financial sector. Conflating the riskiness of banks and nonbanks, however, is tantamount to comparing apples to oranges. Banks and nonbanks are funded differently.
ATR Opposes Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s Partisan Assault on Private Businesses
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), and a cabal of Democrats, introduced partisan legislation to empower the federal government to intervene in private business investment in the U.S. According to an EY report, in 2022, small businesses made up about 85% of all private equity-backed businesses. That same year, private equity was to have contributed $1.7 trillion to U.S. GDP. Sen. Warren’s bill would negatively impact a significant portion of the U.S. economy. Sen.
ATR Supports Sen. Lee’s Saving Privacy Act - Americans for Tax Reform
On September 25, 2024, Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) introduced the Saving Privacy Act. This bill creates a streamlined federal framework to protect consumer financial data in the U.S. The primary goal of the bill is to allow financial institutions to retain consumers’ financial records while simultaneously limiting the federal government’s ability to obtain consumers’ sensitive financial information.
Private Lending is Not a Risk to Financial Stability - Americans for Tax Reform
Clarion calls for private debt scrutinization are misguided and unwarranted. Regulators are making a mountain out of a molehill trying to peg private lending to financial instability. The components of private debt are stable.
How Loper Bright Will Impact Debit Cards and Other Financial Products in the U.S. - Americans for Tax Reform
The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) recently overturned Chevron deference, a longstanding doctrine whose removal marks a monumental shift in the judicial landscape. The Chevron doctrine required courts to defer to a federal agency’s interpretation of ambiguous federal statutes—a power that largely enabled the expansion of the administrative state. The recent ruling in Loper Bright Enterprises v.
ATR Response to Bloomberg Editorial re: Bank Capital Requirements
To the editor: Re: The Bloomberg Editorial Board’s column “Risky Banks Are Regulators’ Fault” (September 19, 2024): The article says the U.S. “economy requires strong banks, which means banks that can keep lending and serving their customers even if they suffer serious losses.” That is exactly what the U.S. already has.
ATR Supports Prioritizing Economic Growth Over Woke Policies Act
On September 13, 2024, ATR sent a letter to the U.S. House Rules Committee in support of the Prioritizing Economic Growth Over Woke Policies Act. ATR also supports an amendment to the bill (amendment #16), which would reduce the number of activist shareholder resolutions submitted to public companies. This legislative effort will ensure that investing and proxy voting will focus solely on financial returns and not ancillary ESG factors.
ATR Supports Congressional Banking Regulation Priorities and Accountability Act - Americans for Tax Reform
On September 10, 2024, Rep. Andy Barr (R-Ky.), chairman of the Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Monetary Policy, introduced the Congressional Banking Regulation Priorities and Accountability Act (H.R. 9512). The bill would substantially increase the transparency and accountability of federal financial regulatory agencies. For decades, unelected bureaucrats in the executive branch have circumvented Congress and implemented regulations that contravene congressional intent.
ATR Supports Protecting Americans’ Investments from Woke Policies Act
This week, the U.S. House Committee on Rules will consider legislation that defends Americans’ retirement money from environmental, social, and governance (ESG) criteria. ESG factors subordinate financial returns in favor of non-financial benefits. House lawmakers wrote four bills to ensure retirement plan fiduciaries invest and vote proxies in the sole interest of retirement plan participants.
Three Important Capital Gains Reforms in Finance - Americans for Tax Reform
Capital gains taxation is ripe for reform. Exempting de minimis cryptocurrency transactions from capital gains tax, indexing capital gains to inflation, and incentivizing investment in fixed income assets to enhance annuities for retirement are just a few examples of ways the framework for capital gains taxation can be improved and benefit the lives of millions of Americans. This article highlights three bills that ATR believes would improve the status quo for capital gains taxation.
The Components of Payment-in-Kind Interest in Private Credit
The COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent increases in interest rates strained businesses’ cash flows, but it also opened the opportunity for lenders to offer borrowers deferrals on cash interest payments. Markets are predicting the Federal Reserve will soon lower interest rates, which could change how private credit funds are managing their loans and give policymakers a better understanding of why payment-in-kind (PIK) interest is used in business development companies (BDCs).
ATR Response to Bloomberg Editorial re: Private Equity
To the editor: Re: The Bloomberg Editorial Board’s column “Is Private Equity a Threat? We Need a Better Answer” (August 14, 2024): The article fallaciously argues the next financial crisis may involve private funds. The proposed solution is more transparency, but this is a hackneyed idea. It also contravenes federal law.
ATR Submits Comment Letter Challenging CFPB Rule on Medical Debt - Americans for Tax Reform
On August 9, 2024, ATR submitted a comment letter in opposition to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB) proposed rule entitled: Prohibition on Creditors and Consumer Reporting Agencies Concerning Medical Information (Regulation V). ATR argues that the proposed rule is not only an overreach of the CFPB’s authority but also a misguided approach that could have far-reaching negative consequences for both borrowers and lenders.
ATR Op-Ed in RealClearMarkets: “Private Credit Is a Quintessential Manifestation of the Market”
On August 12, 2024, RealClearMarkets published an op-ed written by ATR’s director of financial policy, Bryan Bashur. The article talks about the benefits of private credit, or loans to private businesses. The piece also discusses why regulatory scrutiny of private credit is unwarranted. You can read the full op-ed here. The piece starts by describing how private credit is essential to financing the middle market of the U.S. economy.
ATR Submits Comments in Response to CFPB's Mortgage Closing Costs RFI - Americans for Tax Reform
On July 30, 2024, Americans for Tax Reform submitted a comment letter to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) addressing the real issues contributing to unaffordable housing in the U.S. Contrary to the CFPB’s assumption that mortgage closing costs significantly impact housing affordability, the letter highlights the primary contributors, such as restrictive monetary policy, a housing supply shortage, and high property taxes. A copy of the letter can be read here.
Biden's Disastrous National Rent Cap Proposal Would Worsen Housing Costs - Americans for Tax Reform
President Biden’s latest housing proposal to cap rent increases at 5 percent for larger landlords, under the threat of losing depreciation write-offs, is yet another severely misguided attempt to intervene in the U.S. housing market. This economically unsound policy threatens to worsen the very crisis it aims to solve. Economists have consistently pointed out that rent controls fail to fix exorbitant housing costs and create more problems than they fix.
Kamala Harris Wants to Tax your Retirement and 529 Plans
On July 29, 2019, Kamala Harris wrote a Medium article describing how she would pay for her “Medicare For All” plan. Harris wrote about imposing a financial transaction tax (FTT) to pay for a specific part of her plan, which slightly differed from Sen. Bernie Sanders’ (I-Vt.) plan to add an additional income-based premium. Harris states that: To pay for this specific change, I would tax Wall Street stock trades at 0.2%, bond trades at 0.1%, and derivative transactions at 0.002%.
Coercive Regulators have Straitjacketed Banking Services - Americans for Tax Reform
Historically banking regulators have weaponized the bank examination process to compel banks to freeze or close accounts and adopt environmental, social, and governance standards. Lawmakers need to restrain regulators and ensure they do not use political agendas as a guideline for how to scrutinize banks.
How Insurance Regulators are Forcing ESG on the Industry
Both international and domestic regulators are coercing the American insurance industry to disclose information about their exposure to climate-related risks. This information is difficult to quantify but is being used as a tool to control insurers’ operations and investments. This burdensome regulation distorts the insurance market and ultimately raises costs on consumers. The collection of climate risk data is widespread.
Federal Regulators to be in Disarray in Wake of Loper Bright - Americans for Tax Reform
On June 28, 2024, the U.S. Supreme Court delivered a significant ruling in the case of Loper Bright Industries v. Raimondo. The ruling overturned the doctrine of Chevron deference as held initially in Chevron U.S.A., Inc. v. Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc. (1984). Chevron deference played a key role in the administrative state’s development.
ATR Supports Joint Resolution to Nullify DOL’s Fiduciary Rule - Americans for Tax Reform
ATR supportsRep. Rick Allen’s (R-Ga.) joint resolution of disapproval (H.J. Res. 142), which nullifies the Department of Labor’s (DOL) final rule that arbitrarily expands the definition of “investment advice fiduciary.” The new definition applies to activities that have traditionally fallen under the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) Regulation Best Interest (Reg BI).
ATR Op-Ed in American Banker: “Capital One's acquisition of Discover will be a win for consumers”
On July 5, 2024, American Banker’s opinion column, BankThink, published an op-ed written by ATR’s director of financial policy, Bryan Bashur. The op-ed talks about how Capital One’s acquisition of Discover is good for Americans. The piece also explains why arguments against the merger are unfounded. The op-ed discusses payment flexibility: Consumers will have more options if the acquisition is approved.
ATR’s Free Market Banking Reforms for 2025 and Beyond
With Election Day about four months away, pundits and policymakers are already deliberating the types of policy proposals they wish to pursue going into next year. On the banking front, a litany of regulatory and legislative reforms is needed in the wake of the current administration’s unjust regulatory agenda.
Insurance Regulatory Reform is Desperately Needed: How to bring Accountability to the NAIC
The McCarran-Ferguson Act clearly lays out that Congress intended for insurance companies and products to be regulated at the state level. In 1999, the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act “once again affirmed that states should regulate the business of insurance by declaring that the McCarran-Ferguson Act remained in effect.” Even the Dodd-Frank Act kept “the primary state insurance regulatory functions” intact.
Blame Unaffordable Housing on the Government - Americans for Tax Reform
The U.S. housing market is increasingly unaffordable as rent controls, supply shortages, and government intervention consistently elevate housing and rental prices. The Federal Reserve’s recent monetary stance and mortgage guarantees by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have also significantly weighed on housing affordability. The result has been a severe mismatch in housing demand and supply. Multiple studies have outlined the deleterious effects of rent control.
ATR Op-Ed in Townhall: “Lawmakers Must Reject a Financial Transaction Tax”
Today, Townhall published an op-ed written by ATR’s director of financial policy, Bryan Bashur. The op-ed talks about why a financial transaction tax (FTT) is terrible policy. A FTT would tax transactions of stocks, bonds, cryptocurrencies, and derivatives. This would affect anyone with a 401(k) plan, 403(b) plan, 529 plan, individual retirement account (IRA), or brokerage account. You can read the full op-ed here.
Lawmakers Must Reject a Financial Transaction Tax
As discussions about the federal budget abound, political pundits are wrongly seeking out new taxes. One misguided proposal is a U.S. financial transaction tax, which would likely apply to trading stocks, bonds, cryptocurrencies, and derivatives. Taxing financial transactions is a partisan affair. Democrats and labor unions are the primary supporters of a financial transaction tax (FTT). Although a FTT is branded as a tax on the ultrawealthy, most Americans own stocks.
Lawmakers Should Leave Carried Interest Alone and Focus on Cutting Government Spending - Americans for Tax Reform
A partisan cabal of lawmakers is wrongly calling to raise the tax rate on carried interest. Democratic senators have introduced legislation that taxes carried interest as ordinary income, which could put taxpayers on the hook to bail out public pensions, limit retirement options for American workers, and harm small business investment.
ATR Applauds Fifth Circuit Ruling to Strike Down Onerous Private Funds Rule
Today, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit vacated a final rule issued by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which would have unlawfully regulated private funds like public funds (e.g., mutual funds). The court found the final rule to go beyond the SEC’s statutory remit. The rule was another example of the executive branch circumventing elected officials in Congress to pursue a big-government political agenda. Private funds are fundamentally different from public funds.
ATR Op-Ed in The Hill: “How the Stop Woke Investing Act can reaffirm corporate America’s purpose”
On May 24, 2024, The Hill published an op-ed written by ATR’s director of financial policy, Bryan Bashur. The op-ed talks about how the Stop Woke Investing Act (S. 3179) is necessary to combat left-wing activist investors from burdening corporate America with ESG-related shareholder resolutions. Click here to read the full op-ed.
How the Stop Woke Investing Act can reaffirm corporate America’s purpose
Left-wing activists weaponize the shareholder voting process by compelling publicly traded companies to adopt policies that are rooted in politics and irrelevant to their financial performance. Congressional legislation is needed to tamp down on the number of activist resolutions and focus on reforms that can improve public companies and provide financial benefits to all shareholders. Publicly traded companies are subject to the Securities and Exchange Commission’s proxy voting rules.
ATR and Center-Right Groups Oppose Freddie Mac’s Second Mortgage Product
Today, Americans for Tax Reform and a coalition of center-right advocacy organizations sent a letter admonishing the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation’s (Freddie Mac) arbitrary plan to purchase single-family second mortgages. The proposal, which the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) has the authority to approve or deny, would saddle Americans with more unnecessary debt, and make the U.S. housing market more reliant on the federal government and ultimately taxpayer dollars.
ATR Organizes Coalition Letter in Support of Seminal Crypto Legislation
Today, ATR and a coalition of conservative organizations led a letter to Congress in support of the Financial Innovation and Technology (FIT) for the 21st Century Act (H.R. 4763) and the CBDC Anti-Surveillance State Act (H.R. 5403).
ATR Op-Ed in RealClearMarkets: “Capital One's Purchase of Discover Will Help Consumers, Economy”
Today, RealClearMarkets published an op-ed written by ATR’s director of financial policy, Bryan Bashur. The op-ed talks about the benefits of Capital One’s acquisition of Discover. Click here to read the full op-ed. The piece starts by talking about the acquisition’s effect on prime and subprime borrowers: The vilification of bank mergers and acquisitions is unjustified.
Lina Khan Steps on Another Rake in Court
In a running gag on The Simpsons, diabolical clown Sideshow Bob cannot stop stepping on rakes as he carries out various ill-fated schemes to murder Bart Simpson. Life imitates art. Federal Trade Commission Chair Lina Khan keeps stepping on rakes in her quest to regulate the entire economy, this time losing a case against private equity firm Welsh, Carson, Anderson, & Stowe.
Conservative Coalition Asks Fed to Withdraw Debit Card Rule
Today, Americans for Tax Reform along with a coalition of conservative organizations submitted a comment letter to the Federal Reserve (Fed) in response to a proposal that lowers the cap on debit card interchange fees. An interchange fee is a percentage of a debit card transaction that is transferred to a consumer’s bank or credit union. These fees are used to pay for privacy protection and rewards points.
ICYMI from ATR’s Bashur: The Fed's Manipulation of Debit Card Interchange Fees Must Stop
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Americans for Tax Reform’s Director of Financial Policy Bryan Bashur last week penned an op-ed in American Banker raising concerns about the Federal Reserve’s Regulation II proposal. As Bashur explains, the proposal to arbitrarily limit banks’ debit interchange revenues is a government price control that would increase costs on other banking products that consumers rely on to meet their everyday needs. You can find the full op-ed HERE or below.
The Fed's manipulation of debit card interchange fees must stop
It has been over a decade since the Durbin Amendment was enacted as a part of the Dodd-Frank Act, but the Federal Reserve is continuing to manipulate Americans' debit cards . The central bank is proposing to adjust debit card interchange fees...
ATR Supports Fight Against SEC’s Climate Rule - Americans for Tax Reform
On March 21, 2022, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) introduced a proposed rulemaking that required publicly traded companies to disclose information pertaining to greenhouse gas emissions. The disclosure requirements would have covered emissions within and outside a company’s direct supply chain (Scopes 1, 2, and 3 emissions). In response to the proposed rule, ATR submitted a comment letter strongly urging the SEC to reconsider the proposal in its current state.
ATR Supports Fight Against Climate-Related Risks Proposal
The Federal Reserve (Fed), Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), and Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) jointly established principles to ostensibly offer a framework for banks, savings associations, and nonbank systemically important financial institutions (SIFIs) with at least $100 billion in total consolidated assets to focus on material climate-related risks.
ATR Supports Fight Against FSOC’s Nonbank Designation Guidance
The Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC) was created by the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (Dodd-Frank Act) as a response to financial instability emanating from the 2008 financial crisis.
ATR Supports Fight Against CFPB’s Credit Card Late Fee Rule
Without any direction from Congress, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) finalized a rule that (1) changes the safe harbor dollar amount for late fees from $30, or $41 for subsequent late payment violations, to a strict threshold of $8 while prohibiting any higher amount for future delinquencies; and (2) removes the safe harbor late fee adjustment to account for inflation. Eighty-two percent of American adults own at least one credit card.
ATR Submits Comment Letter Responding to CFPB’s Rule on Overdraft Fees
On March 28, 2024, Americans for Tax Reform submitted a comment letter responding to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB) proposed rule entitled “Overdraft Lending: Very Large Financial Institutions.” ATR requested the CFPB withdraw the rule upon finding it to be a thinly veiled arbitrary exercise of power exceeding the agency’s statutory authority. The letter can be read here.
ATR Submits Comment Letter Responding to CFPB’s Rule on Non-Sufficient Funds Fees
On March 24, 2024, Americans for Tax Reform submitted a comment letter responding to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB) proposed rule entitled “Fees for Instantaneously Declined Transactions.” ATR requested the CFPB withdraw the rule upon finding it to be a thinly veiled arbitrary exercise of power exceeding the agency’s statutory authority. The letter can be read here.
ATR Submits Comment Letter Defending Life Insurance and Annuities
Today, Americans for Tax Reform submitted a comment letter to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC). The letter was sent in response to a proposal from the NAIC that would increase the risk-based capital (RBC) charge for residual tranches and interests of asset-backed securities (ABS) from 30% to 45%. ABS include, but are not limited to, securitizations of credit cards, auto loans, student loans, and corporate debt.
State Insurance Regulators are Launching Assault on 401(k)s and Life Insurance
The National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC)—a multistate standard-setting organization composed of insurance regulators from all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and U.S. territories—is arbitrarily increasing regulations on life insurance companies that invest in residual tranches and interests of asset-backed securities (ABS) (e.g., investment vehicles such as collateralized loan obligations, and securitizations of auto loans, student loans, and credit cards).[1] The...
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