Americans For Financial Reform, AAPI Groups Speak Out Against "Fast Track"

Americans for Financial Reform (AFR) and Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) groups called on Congress this week to reject "fast track" authority for the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP).

AFR, the leading voice for Wall Street accountability in Washington, argued that the TPP's expansion of investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) poses a significant threat to financial regulations in the United States and around the world. Under ISDS, foreign banks and investors would be able to skip traditional court systems and directly sue national governments in international tribunals made up of for-profit arbitrators, rather than full-time judges.

"It could allow financial companies to challenge new rules put in place to protect consumers and investors or ensure the stability of the financial system, and force U.S. taxpayers to pay for any losses in profits claimed due to these rules," it said in a statement. "The biggest banks already have disproportionate power in shaping global financial regulatory policy, and the distortions in public policy created by that power has had disastrous effects. The last thing we need to is to increase their power still further."

Congress also felt pressure from 30 organizations representing a wide range of AAPI organizations. In a letter to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, Speaker of the House John Boehner and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, the groups wrote, "We are very concerned about the unprecedented level of secrecy that negotiations have been conducted in. Leaked texts have shown that the Fast Tracking of sweeping trade agreements like the TPP will have serious implications for AAPI workers and families."

Signers included the Association of Asian Pacific Community Health Organizations, Boat People SOS, National Asian Pacific American Student Coalition of the United States Student Association, National Queer Asian Pacific Islander Alliance and the Southeast Asia Resource Action Center.