Today, in response to the Trump Administration’s release of its full budget request to Congress for Fiscal Year 2019, Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), Ranking Member of the Committee on Financial Services, issued the following statement: “Trump’s budget proposal would harm American consumers, hurt our nation’s communities and wipe out financial reforms that are in place to prevent another financial crisis. “Trump proposes to eliminate the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s independent fun... Read more

Following the U.S. Senate passage of H.R.3110, the Financial Stability Oversight Council Insurance Member Continuity Act, a bipartisan bill introduced by Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), Ranking Member of the Committee on Financial Services, and Congressman Randy Hultgren (R-IL), a member of the Financial Services Committee, which would extend the term of the Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC) independent member with insurance expertise, Ranking Member Waters made the following stat... Read more

Today, Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), Ranking Member of the Committee on Financial Services, and Congressman Randy Hultgren (R-IL), introduced a bipartisan bill to make a technical correction to the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010 (Dodd-Frank), and address an issue regarding the term of the Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC) independent member with insurance expertise. Under current law, it is unclear if the FSOC member with insurance expertise, w... Read more

Today, Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), Ranking Member of the Committee on Financial Services, blasted the FY 2018 Financial Services and General Government (FSGG) Appropriations bill, which includes many elements of the Wrong Choice Act, the Republican deregulatory measure to roll back Wall Street reform. “The Financial Services and General Government Appropriations bill has been poisoned with many of the most dangerous parts of the Wrong Choice Act, which would pave the way to another finan... Read more

Today, at the only scheduled committee hearing to review Chairman Hensarling's Wrong Choice Act 2.0, a bill that would destroy the most important parts of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), Ranking Member of the Committee on Financial Services, gave the following opening statement: As Prepared for Delivery Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thank you to the witnesses for being here today. There is only one explanation for why we are here d... Read more

Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), Ranking Member of the Committee on Financial Services, spoke on the House floor opposing H.R. 5143 as the next bill in the Trump agenda that would benefit Wall Street at the expense of financial stability. “This week’s gift is less oversight of the largest insurers in the U.S., which will put us at risk for another AIG,” Waters said, noting the global insurer was a poster child of the financial crisis and was bailed out to the tune of $182 billion. Waters expl... Read more

Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), Ranking Member of the Committee on Financial Services, spoke on the House floor opposing H.R. 6392, a bill that would let President-elect Trump’s Wall Street-friendly administration deregulate 27 of the largest banks in the country. “H.R. 6392 would repeal Dodd-Frank’s $50 billion threshold, above which banks are subject to closer regulatory scrutiny, and prevent the Federal Reserve Board from regulating these banks,” Waters said. “Instead, it would hand over ... Read more

Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), Ranking Member of the Committee on Financial Services, discussed the importance of the Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC) in keeping our financial system safe at a hearing today with Treasury Secretary Jacob J. Lew on the FSOC’s annual report to Congress. “With Wall Street reform, we created the FSOC to look across the entire financial system, identify gaps that may exist between regulators, and take action to prevent another meltdown,” Waters said i... Read more

During general debate on H.R. 5424 on the House floor today, Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), Ranking Member of the Committee on Financial Services, led opposition to the measure, which would roll back Dodd-Frank’s much-needed oversight and transparency measures for private equity funds, hedge funds, and others in the shadow banking industry. In her remarks, Waters lamented that the Republican-led House is focusing on protecting “Wall Street profits,” rather than working in a bipartisan manne... Read more

In opening remarks during a Financial Services Committee hearing today, Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), the Committee’s Ranking Member, denounced Republicans’ deregulatory agenda that puts the needs of special interests above working Americans. Waters noted that Chairman Hensarling’s legislation, the “Wrong Choice Act,” to gut Dodd-Frank would make “radical changes to our financial regulatory framework that would harm consumers and the greater economy.” This would include giving banks a “hal... Read more

Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) – the leading Democrats on the Senate Banking and House Financial Services Committees – issued the following statement after the U.S government removed GE Capital’s designation as “systemically important” to the financial system. The Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC), which includes the Treasury Department and Federal Reserve, rescinded GE Capital’s designation for stricter oversight after the firm made changes to reduce its thr... Read more

During floor consideration of H.R. 3340, Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), Ranking Member of the Committee on Financial Services, urged rejection of the bill, which would undermine the Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC) and the Office of Financial Research (OFR) by subjecting their funding to Congressional appropriations and interfering with their research.‎ The OFR and the FSOC are funded by fees on the largest financial institutions, similar to how the banking regulators set and fu... Read more

Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), Ranking Member of the House Financial Services Committee, released the following statement in response to the Committee Chairman’s dangerous plan to roll back the Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act: “This is just another attempt by the majority to gut administration policies that have helped millions of Americans. The Dodd-Frank law was enacted on the heels of the worst financial crisis our generation has seen. In the five-plus years since, our fin... Read more

During a hearing where members of the Financial Stability Oversight Council, or FSOC, appeared before the full Committee, Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), Ranking Member of the Committee on Financial Services, underscored the need for a coordinating regulatory body in the wake of the financial crisis and highlighted its work to provide stability to investors, consumers and our national economy. Waters reminded Members of the damage caused by the crisis, while noting that repeated attempts by ... Read more

During today’s full committee hearing to discuss the Financial Stability Oversight Council’s annual report with Treasury Secretary Jack Lew, Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), Ranking Member of the Financial Services Committee applauded the critical work of the Council in identifying risks to the financial system and protecting American consumers and the overall stability of the economy. The top Democrat criticized efforts by Republicans to undermine the Council, noting that a major contributin... Read more

Following the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) approval of its long awaited rules for money market mutual funds, Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), Ranking Member of the Financial Services Committee, released the following statement noting the SEC’s progress and underscoring the importance of the Financial Stability Oversight Council in moving these rules toward completion. "I'm pleased that today, the Securities and Exchange Commission has moved forward with reforms intended to preve... Read more

WASHINGTON — Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., is warning that a key House appropriations bill soon to be considered by the full chamber could hurt the ability of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and other regulators to oversee the financial services industry. Legislation to fund the Treasury Department, the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Small Business Administration and several other agencies is expected to proceed to the House floor in coming days after being considered by the Ru... Read more

At today’s full committee hearing to discuss the Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC) with Treasury Secretary Jack Lew, Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA) highlighted the important work of the Council in identifying systemic risk and protecting American homeowners, consumers, and the economy. Specifically, the Ranking Member of the Committee on Financial Services reminded FSOC’s critics that a contributing factor to the severity of the crisis was a lack of oversight throughout the entire... Read more

In today’s full committee markup, Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), Ranking Member of the House Financial Services Committee, voiced her strong opposition to Republican measures to radically change the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act (TRIA) and undercut the Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC). On TRIA, Waters blasted Republicans for drafting legislation that jeopardizes a program that has created jobs, spurred economic growth, and protected our nation’s economy from the costs of a terror... Read more

In today’s full Committee markup, Congresswoman Maxine Waters, Ranking Member of the Financial Services Committee, blasted Republicans for continuing to waste the Committee’s time and resources on measures that weaken important consumer protections, undo transparency and accountability measures for Wall Street’s biggest actors and carve out major exceptions for large public companies. Waters criticized Republicans for continuing to delay consideration of reauthorization of the Terrorism Risk Ins... Read more

At today’s full Committee hearing on the Financial Stability Oversight Council’s (FSOC) designation process, Congresswoman Maxine Waters, Ranking Member of the Financial Services Committee, discussed the importance of the FSOC process in giving Congress and regulators the comprehensive view of the entire market necessary to identify and mitigate systemic risks. Waters also reminded the Committee of the failure of markets to police themselves in the lead up to the financial crisis, as well as the... Read more

At a Financial Services Committee markup of six bills designed to undermine the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), Ranking Member of the Committee, blasted the measures as efforts to weaken CFPB’s ability to be an effective, independent advocate for consumers. Waters highlighted the CFPB’s remarkable record of success in just over two years, pointing to enforcement actions that have resulted in $750 million being directly refunded to over 7.9 million... Read more

Congresswoman Maxine Waters, Ranking Member of the House Financial Services Committee, led committee Democrats today in encouraging Financial Services Committee Members to, “read the law,” in hopes to “facilitate a rational discussion based on actual provisions within the law.” During the full committee hearing titled, “Examining How the Dodd-Frank Act Could Result in More Taxpayer-Funded Bailouts,” Waters said, “I have found that not enough attention has been paid to the actual legislative text... Read more

Congresswoman Maxine Waters, Ranking Member of the House Financial Services Committee, delivered the following statement at today's full Committee hearing with Treasury Secretary Lew: Thank you very much Mr. Chairman. I am very pleased to welcome Secretary Lew to his first appearance before the Financial Services Committee to deliver the annual report of the Financial Stability Oversight Council as required by the Dodd-Frank Act. We are aware of your tremendous responsibility, we are very please... Read more

Congresswoman Maxine Waters, Ranking Member of the House Financial Services Committee, today sent a letter to Treasury Secretary Jack Lew, Chairman of the Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC), seeking to elicit his views on the progress of the “living wills” provision of the Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010. The provision requires the nation’s largest bank holding companies and other systemically important financial firms as designated by the FSOC to file Orderly Re... Read more