After their children's college savings accounts lost 38 percent of
their value last year, some Illinois parents might be seeing some
justice soon. The Illinois Treasurer's office recently reached a
tentative deal with Oppenheimer funds to recover $77 million of the $85
million in losses.
There are 40 million persons
living in the U.S.
who lack a bank account. Many of these "unbanked" individuals lack sufficient
identification necessary to meet banks' customer identification verification procedures,
which are required by the Bank Secrecy (BSA) and USA PATRIOT Acts. Research shows
that insufficient identification is one of the top three reasons for account
denial and that customers who are denied a bank account once often do not
return to a bank again.
Two of the
three essential elements that comprise good financial services policy are robust consumer
protections and effective safety and
soundness laws. The third component is policy that supports consumers' access to
reasonably priced financial services. This presentation, given at the 2009 FDIC
Interagency Conference on Economic Inclusion, explores the necessary
balance that must be struck to among
the three elements to craft effective financial services policy,
and it describes two federal policy proposals to provide underserved consumers with access… more
The New America Foundation and Appleseed hosted a timely roundtable discussion on a proposed policy aimed at clearing the path for opening basic bank accounts for immigrants and those who are new to the financial system. Participants included counsel and compliance officers of banks, prepaid firms and financial institution processors, representatives of nonprofits serving immigrant families, delegates from the Mexican Embassy and public policy experts.
According to New America Foundation, 38% of all households are in a state of asset poverty, in that they lack liquid financial resources to support their ...
“The SaveNYC account is a meaningful innovation,” said Reid Cramer, director of the asset building program of the New America Foundation, a progressive ...
Seidman, now a senior fellow at the New America Foundation, said she created an award for the best bank examiner on consumer affairs and compliance issues ...
and more »
In Reid Cramer's interview with WNYC, Mr. Cramer says, "Current policy does a very poor job of helping these families build up
small pools of resources especially that they can draw upon flexibly.
So there's a real need for short term savings for emergencies." ... Original Article
Today’s complex financial marketplace makes it increasingly difficult to understand and navigate the array of products and services available from a variety of providers. Low- and moderate-income families, who have fewer financial resources to begin with, are most vulnerable to falling into financial distress. A solid grounding in personal finance and a clear understanding of the available options when making financial decisions are critical.
