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Testimony Thursday: Industry Often Submits Fake Comments to Mislead Financial Regulators

Public Citizen’s Bartlett Naylor to Testify at House Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee Hearing

WHAT: Bartlett Naylor, financial policy advocate for Public Citizen, will testify at a Thursday afternoon hearing on how corporations use astroturfing to mislead regulators and bend policy away from protecting consumers. The hearing will be held by the U.S. House Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations and will be livestreamed.

Naylor will tell the committee that businesses, industry trade associations and right-wing funded academic centers have submitted fake or knowingly deceptive public comments opposing stronger consumer and financial protections on a variety of rulemakings in recent years – including on proposed rules related to proxy advisers for shareholders, the Community Reinvestment Act and the fiduciary rule, which is designed to protect workers saving for retirement.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, George Washington University’s Regulatory Studies Center, the Main Street Investors Coalition and OneWest (previously owned by current U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin) are among the offenders Naylor will single out for criticism in his testimony.

WHEN: 2 p.m. EST, Thurs., Feb. 6

WHERE: Room 2128, Rayburn House Office Building
45 Independence Ave. SW, Washington, D.C.

WHO: Bartlett Naylor, financial policy advocate, Public Citizen