As the White House intensifies its push for Trade Promotion Authority from Congress so it can conclude talks on the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), yesterday Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), Ranking Member of the Financial Services Committee, expressed concern that the TPP could undermine essential financial reforms, including those passed as part of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform Act. In a letter sent to President Obama, the senior Democrat underscored the limitations and inter... Read more

Citing the “criminal behavior” of some of the world’s biggest banks, a group of Democratic lawmakers is asking the Obama administration to take a closer look at the lenders’ actions before granting waivers they are seeking. The legislators want Secretary of Labor Thomas Perez to consider the seriousness of the crimes committed by global banks requesting waivers to continue functioning without significant business interruptions, after they agreed last month to enter guilty pleas The request is th... Read more

As American export businesses continue facing uncertainty regarding the Export-Import Bank’s charter, top Democrats on Thursday continued to press the Republican Majority to bring a legislative proposal to renew and reform the agency to a vote. Financial Services Committee Ranking Member Maxine Waters (D-CA) joined Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer (D-MD), Monetary Policy and Trade Subcommittee Ranking Member Gwen Moore (D-WI) and Rep. Denny Heck (D-WA) to highlight the increasingly vocal support for ... Read more

In the wake of five megabanks pleading guilty to felony charges, a number of prominent Democratic lawmakers are calling on the Department of Labor (DOL) to carefully consider whether to waive sanctions that would be automatically imposed on these institutions stemming from their guilty pleas. The lawmakers today called on DOL to hold a public hearing on any waivers requested by the banks, to promote transparency in DOL’s decision-making. The request was made in a letter to Labor Secretary Thomas... Read more

Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives teamed up with their counterparts in the Senate on Wednesday to promote a banking regulatory relief bill they say is better than a broader version pushed by Republicans. House Financial Services Ranking Member Maxine Waters announced at a news conference that all of the Democrats on her panel support a bill unveiled last month by Senate Banking Ranking Member Sherrod Brown, and that it had been formally introduced in the House. Brown, who also spoke... Read more

Leading Democrats on the Senate Banking and House Financial Services Committees today announced the broad support of Democratic Members for legislation to provide targeted relief to small financial institutions and protect consumers. The measure, which was introduced in both the House of Representatives and the United States Senate, has the unanimous support of Democratic Members of the respective committees. Entitled the “Community Lender Regulatory Relief and Consumer Protection Act of 2015,” ... Read more

As Republicans in Congress continue to run out the clock on the Export-Import Bank, Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), Ranking Member of the Committee on Financial Services, condemned the Majority’s continued ideological attacks in the face of bipartisan support from a majority of the House of Representatives. Waters underscored that just 14 legislative days remain until this economic engine for growth shuts down, and levied criticism at Chair Hensarling (R-TX) for eleventh-hour brinksmanship t... Read more

Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), Ranking Member of the Committee on Financial Services, is calling on the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to provide meaningful relief and increased transparency for seniors participating in its reverse mortgage program, knowns as the Home Equity Conversion Mortgage program (HECM). Waters expressed concern that many senior citizens are facing foreclosure, or will face foreclosure due to deceptive lending practices and previous HUD protocol for... Read more

Following Financial Services Committee Chairman Hensarling’s announcement of the issuance of a subpoena for Federal Reserve documents related to the leak of market-sensitive Fed deliberations, Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), the Committee’s Ranking Member, released the following statement: “The unauthorized disclosure of confidential information is a serious matter, and the Federal Reserve’s Inspector General has joined with the Department of Justice to conduct a thorough inquiry. The politi... Read more

Today, Democrats on the Financial Services Committee upended a markup of 13 measures focused on capital formation for American small businesses to demand immediate action to renew the Export –Import Bank (Ex-Im). Led by Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), Ranking Member of the Committee, Democrats highlighted the benefits of the Bank in their districts, while noting that with only 18 legislative days until it expires, the Republicans have yet even hold a hearing on legislation to renew the Bank.... Read more

Following guilty pleas by five of the largest banks to criminal violations, Congresswoman Maxine Waters, Ranking Member of the Financial Services Committee, expressed her disappointment with the Department of Justice’s failure to hold any individuals criminally accountable. In addition, Waters expressed her concern with reports that the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) will allow these banks to continue doing business as usual, by waiving certain bad actor disqualifications in the securi... Read more

During a markup of 13 legislative proposals focused on capital formation for small businesses, Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), Ranking Member of the Committee on Financial Services, led her fellow Democrats in criticizing Republicans for failing to consider legislation to renew the charter Export-Import Bank, an entity that helps American businesses grow and create jobs. With only 18 legislative days until the Export-Import Bank shuts down, the top Democrat expressed concern with the uncerta... Read more

As ranking member of the House Committee on Financial Services, I've spent the years since the financial crisis trying to provide relief to Americans devastated by the plague of home foreclosures. It’s been challenging work. Programs the government put in place to aid borrowers often were insufficient, hard to understand and needlessly complex. Though the process created many problems, one silver lining is that we’ve learned important lessons about how government can more effectively help indivi... Read more

Following reports that five of the largest banks will soon plead guilty to criminal antitrust violations and pay several billion dollars for rigging foreign currencies, the top Democrat on the Financial Services Committee is raising concerns about the possibility that the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) will allow these banks to continue doing business as usual, by waiving certain bad actor disqualifications in the securities laws. In a letter to SEC Chair Mary Jo White, Congresswoman M... Read more

At today’s Financial Services committee hearing on data security breaches, Ranking Member Maxine Waters (D-CA) cautioned lawmakers to ensure that any Congressional effort to set national enforcement and notification standards provide a strong federal minimum, ensure flexibility for states to build on those minimum standards and avoid hamstringing their ability to adapt and strengthen them as new technologies emerge. Waters underscored the importance of this issue, and called for a bipartisan app... Read more

As the House Agriculture Committee considers legislation that would renew the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), Ranking Member of the Financial Services Committee, expressed concern over provisions that would make changes to the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform Act, and weaken derivatives rules. Waters released the following statement: “This harmful proposal is an obvious attempt to hamstring an already underfunded agency charged with the critical over... Read more

At a subcommittee hearing related to the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform Act, Congresswoman Maxine Waters, Ranking Member of the Financial Services Committee, reminded her colleagues as to why bold action was needed in the aftermath of the worst crisis since the Great Depression. She also underscored Dodd-Frank’s popularity with the American public and reiterated the few legislative days left until the Export-Import Bank closes its doors. Her statement follows: “Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Before I b... Read more

Last year the vampires of finance bought themselves a Congress. I know it’s not nice to call them that, but I have my reasons, which I’ll explain in a bit. For now, however, let’s just note that these days Wall Street, which used to split its support between the parties, overwhelmingly favors the G.O.P. And the Republicans who came to power this year are returning the favor by trying to kill Dodd-Frank, the financial reform enacted in 2010. And why must Dodd-Frank die? Because it’s working. This... Read more

Following today’s announcement of subpoenas for three federal agencies by Financial Services Committee Chairman Jeb Hensarling (R-TX), Congresswoman Maxine Waters, the Committee’s Ranking Member, released the following letter laying out her strong objections to the process by which the subpoenas were issued. The letter was sent on Friday, May 8, after she was notified of the Chairman’s intentions. The Ranking member raised concerns over the unilateral issuance of subpoenas without getting consen... Read more

In less than 24 hours, an effort to bypass House Republican leadership and force a vote on legislation to extend the Export-Import Bank’s charter has garnered the support of 179 Members of Congress. Led by three key Democratic members of the Financial Services Committee, the lawmakers have signed a discharge petition; a procedure that, if supported by a majority of the House, would bring legislation to reauthorize and reform the Export-Import Bank up for a vote. Rep. Denny Heck (D-WA), Ranking M... Read more

Today, Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), Ranking Member of the Committee on Financial Services, introduced legislation to comprehensively address chronic underfunding of the public housing program in the United States to ensure access to housing that is safe, decent and affordable for the 1.2 million vulnerable families who rely on it. The measure, entitled the Public Housing Tenant Protection and Reinvestment Act, seeks to preserve public housing and transform extremely impoverished neighborh... Read more

Following comments by Speaker Boehner that, “there are thousands of jobs on the line that would disappear pretty quickly if the [Export-Import] Bank were to disappear," Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), Ranking Member of the Committee on Financial Services, urged the Republicans on the Committee to stand up for American jobs and businesses by taking action to renew and reform the Export-Import Bank, which is set to expire June 30. The remarks were delivered during a joint hearing today with th... Read more

With just 26 legislative days left until the Export-Import Bank closes its doors on June 30, House Democrats today initiated an effort to bypass House Republican leadership that would force a vote on legislation to extend the Bank’s charter. Three key Democratic members of the Financial Services Committee have joined with Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi and Whip Steny Hoyer to sign a discharge petition; a procedure that, if supported by a majority of the House, would bring legislation to reauthor... Read more

Following a House Appropriations subcommittee’s approval of a measure to fund the nation’s housing programs, Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), Ranking Member of the Financial Services Committee, blasted Republicans for undercutting important housing programs that protect our most vulnerable populations. The legislation, known as the Transportation, Housing and Urban Development and Related Agencies (THUD) Appropriations bill, slashes or provides insufficient funding for a number of the Departm... Read more

Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) on Friday defended Boeing and other big businesses that utilize the Export-Import Bank as she and other lawmakers called for Ex-Im's reauthorization. "I'm not backing away from being proud of the big businesses that create jobs and suppliers," the top Democrat on the House Financial Services Committee said at the bank's annual conference in Washington. Waters said, "Some of the larger businesses that are criticized by those who oppose the bank — such as Boeing — are... Read more