Americans for Financial Reform
NJCA Pickets Morgan Stanley Jersey City Offices
On January 29, 2010, members of New Jersey Citizen Action (NJCA) and community leadership representing affiliate organizations held an informational picket at the Jersey City offices of Morgan Stanley to demand the bank put an end to multi-billion dollar bonuses, reject the "Too Big To Fail Doctrine," and use their anticipated $14.4 billion bonus pool to help New Jersey families facing foreclosure and small business generate jobs.
"The Big Banks — especially Morgan Stanley — need to stop the greedy and reckless behavior. It's outrageous that after taking 25 billion of our tax dollars, Morgan Stanley is back to business as usual, paying huge bonuses and fighting against reforms that would protect us from their abuses in the future." said Phyllis Salowe-Kaye, executive director of New Jersey Citizen Action (NJCA). "Now is the time for them to start making amends for past transgressions and hold the big banks accountable. A good first step would include directing a significant portion of their $14.4 billion-dollar bonus pool to a fund to help prevent foreclosure. It's the least they could do."
Today's informational picket was the latest in a series of nation-wide mobilizations to try to rein in Wall Street and hold them accountable for the current financial crisis. Today's action followed similar NJCA pickets of the Jersey City offices of Goldman Sachs and AIG in 2009. Full details in our Press Release.
Make Goldman Sachs Stop Paying Bonuses!
Really Goldman? Enough is Enough!
On November 24 , 2009 NJ Citizen Action sponsored an Informational Picket in Jersey City to urge Goldman Sachs to stop paying out multi-billion dollar bonuses and spending millions of dollars lobbying against real financial reform.
Wall Street firms like Goldman Sachs, bailed out by our tax dollars, are back to making record profits and are committed to handing out multi-billion dollar bonuses. Meanwhile, millions of regular folks are suffering from job losses, foreclosures, depleted pensions, and skyrocketing credit card rates and overdraft fees caused by the financial meltdown.
We demand that Goldman Sachs give its $23 billion in bonuses to foreclosure prevention programs, increase its lending for job creation and stop fighting real financial reform.
- Press Release.
- News Coverage: "Talkin' Turkey" (The Jersey Journal – November 30, 2009), "Activist Group Pickets Goldman Sachs JC Headquarters" (The Hudson Reporter – November 29, 2009), "N.J. Citizen Action Plans Picket Of Goldman Sachs" (NJBIZ — November 24, 2009).
NJCA Calls for a Stop to Excessive Overdraft Fees
Bank overdraft fees cost New Jersey approximately $499.8 million over the past year, according to a new report by Americans for Financial Reform.
Nationally, last year banks made $38.5 billion from overdraft fees. "That number is likely to increase without new, clear rules of the road for banks and their customers and a real consumer watchdog in Washington to enforce them", said Phyllis Salowe-Kaye, "Overdraft Bank Fees Fall Under Scrutiny" (Press of Atlantic City – October 24, 2009), executive director of New Jersey Citizen Action working with the Americans for Financial Reform coalition.
Read the full details here. Press Coverage: "Fed Provides Customers Relief From Bank Overdraft Charges" (Press of Atlantic City – November 13, 2009), "Banks Try Self-Regulation" (The Record / NorthJersey.com – October 25, 2009), "Overdraft Bank Fees Fall Under Scrutiny" (Press of Atlantic City – October 24, 2009), "New Jersey Citizen Action Applauds The Creation Of Consumer Financial Protection" (NewsBlaze – October 22, 2009), "NJ Citizen Action Calls For A Stop To Excessive Overdraft Fees" (NewsBlaze – October 8, 2009).
NJCA Organizes for Financial Reform — Accountability, Fairness, and Security
For too long, the rules of Wall Street have been written by the bankers themselves. This year, that has to change. New Jersey Citizen Action has joined Americans for Financial Reform.
AFR is a coalition of nearly 200 national, state and local consumer, labor, retiree, investor, community and civil rights organizations campaign for real reform in our banking and financial system. We aim to hold our New Jersey elected leaders accountable, and to insist on a strong role for the public in making crucial decisions about our economic future.
We call for:
- Congress to put in place a real system with the resources and authority to police Wall Street.
- A consumer watchdog who can give the American people the security they expect and deserve when making financial decisions.
- Reforms that keep people in their homes and prompt smart investment in communities and businesses that create good jobs and strong neighborhoods.
Accountability, fairness, and security must be linchpins of financial reform.
In the face of a full-blown global economic crisis, bold action is needed now by leaders in Congress, the Administration and the federal government to repair our nation's broken financial system, establish integrity in the financial markets, and facilitate productive economic activity that benefits all segments of our communities.
It is only in doing these things that we can meaningfully address the public's shattered confidence in the fairness of the financial marketplace and establish a healthy, robust and productive economy.
Visit the national campaign website of Americans for Financial Reform at http://ourfinancialsecurity.org/