Bank CEO Responses Show Strong Case for Preserving Right to Sue
Sept. 12, 2017
Bank CEO Responses Show Strong Case for Preserving Right to Sue
Statements From Experts at Public Citizen and Americans for Financial Reform
Public Citizen and Americans for Financial Reform today issued the following statements in response to a letter (PDF) from bank CEOs about their use and defense of forced arbitration. U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) had sought information (PDF) about their use of the controversial practice.
“While these banks refuse to publicly support taking away consumers’ Seventh Amendment rights, the lobbying groups they fund have been frantically pushing for it. But if CEOs don’t want their names associated with this overwhelmingly unpopular legislation, senators should not either.”
– Lisa Gilbert, vice president of legislative affairs, Public Citizen
“Even Wells Fargo seems to recognize that now is the exact wrong time to repeal what few protections we still have. As new financial scandals seem to break every week, the U.S. Senate should not waste scarce floor time on such destructive legislation.”
– Amanda Werner, arbitration campaign manager, Americans for Financial Reform and Public Citizen
“Forced arbitration is a bad deal for consumers and lets Wall Street profit by violating the law and ripping off their customers. That’s one reason even CEOs are hesitant to defend it publicly, even as they fund their trade groups and give campaign contributions to keep people from having their day in court.”
– Lisa Donner, executive director, Americans for Financial Reform
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