Press Release

Washington, DC—The following is a statement from American Association for Justice (AAJ) CEO Linda Lipsen in response to today’s vote in the U.S. House of Representatives to repeal the celebrated Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) rule to curb the use of forced arbitration clauses in financial contracts.

“Every vote to kill this celebrated rule was a vote to strip Americans’ of their rights. It’s appalling that certain members of the House would let Wall Street mega banks hold them hostage and prevent them from working to restore the Constitutional rights of their constituents.”

“For decades, Wall Street has been hiding behind the cloak of forced arbitration to keep the public in the dark when they rip off and defraud their customers. The CFPB rule finally pulls that cloak back and provides consumers who are scammed, cheated, and abused by financial corporations with a fair and transparent path to justice. Under the rule, financial institutions can no longer slash away at consumers’ rights and consumers can once again join together to demand mega banks be held accountable.”

“In voting to pass the Congressional Review Act resolution today, the House all but handed the rights of Americans over to Big Banks. It’s now up to the Senate to restore Americans’ rights to justice. The Senate should stand with consumers over Wall Street and reject efforts to block the CFPB arbitration rule.”