American Consumer & Investor Institute

With actions like promoting access to mortgage credit and removing regulatory barriers to home construction, President Trump is making it easier for Americans to buy homes, an integral part of the American Dream. 🏡🇺🇸

.@SECGov-@CFTC harmonization is good for retail investors. Thank you @SECPaulSAtkins and @ChairmanSelig for engaging in this important work.

WATCH: @RepLisaMcClain on the need for accountability and transparency at FINRA: “Today, FINRA staff, not industry members, writes binding rules, investigates people, brings enforcement cases, holds hearings, issues large fines and can permanently end someone's career. Yet FINRA is not subject to the same transparency laws as federal agencies. Its meetings are not fully open. Its records are not fully public. Now, if an organization exercises government level power, it should have government level accountability.” 📺⬇️

NEW: @BGOV’s @kackleyZ is out today with a look at our bipartisan campaign to reform federal oversight of proxy advisory firms. As @BlaineACII put it: “American investors have every right to know that the systems shaping their retirement savings are transparent, accountable, and working for them. This is a structural problem with a bipartisan solution.” Read more and follow for updates on our fight to put the interests of American investors back at the center of corporate governance: aciinstitute.org/news/bloomberg…

It is telling that the same left-wing ideological forces who championed the Gensler era of regulatory excess are now attacking Randall Guynn’s appointment. The last thing they want is a regulator who rejects their heavy-handed, one-size-fits-all approach that has crushed community banks, driven consolidation, and left smaller institutions drowning in compliance costs.

Great to see @SECPaulSAtkins once again making the case for a much-needed, commonsense update to the accredited investor definition: “A modernized accredited investor definition, meanwhile, such as a knowledge-based exam, would recognize that financial sophistication can scarcely be measured by income or net worth alone. Why should we prohibit a finance professor earning $100,000 a year from private offerings, while presuming that people who inherit wealth are better qualified?” sec.gov/newsroom/speec…

This is another terrific step in the right direction from our team in the Division of Trading and Markets to remove barriers and unlock access to on-chain markets.

As this Administration has made clear, it is imperative that the United States take the lead on developing innovative uses for artificial intelligence, and nowhere is that more important than in the financial sector. This work demonstrates that government and industry can come together to support secure AI adoption that increases the resilience of our financial system.

🚨JUST LAUNCHED: New website highlights the unchecked influence two foreign-owned proxy advisory firms — ISS and Glass Lewis — wield over U.S. public companies and the investments and retirement savings of millions of Americans. Learn more: ProxyAdvisorWatch.com

I couldn’t agree more with @SenatorTimScott's comments at today’s @BankingGOP hearing: Americans shouldn't have to have wealth to build wealth. Expanding or eliminating the accredited investor definition would create a more fair system by putting more investment opportunities within reach for retail investors at a time when fewer companies are going public.

Great question from @RepStutzman on the need to modernize the accredited investor definition. Chairman @SECPaulSAtkins is spot on. It doesn't make sense that an economics professor earning $100,000 can't be accredited while an 18-year-old who inherited wealth could be. @ACIIForRetail appreciates the congressional champions who are elevating this issue and Chairman Atkins’ efforts to reform this paternalistic private markets gatekeeping.

.@SenatorHagerty nails it 🎯: “The pattern here is clear: Congress and @SECGov set the rules and the proxy cartel does whatever they want to backdoor alternatives to those rules. And what is the result on the American public? Well, it increases compliance costs, clearly. It diminishes capital formation. Frankly, it decreases and diminishes the attractiveness of going public here in America. And it makes everyday Americans suffer the financial consequences of ideologically driven and economically unfounded corporate decisions that are resulting from these malicious proxy advisory recommendations.”

Sen. Elizabeth Warren's letter to @SECPaulSAtkins mentioned the market concentration in the proxy advisor industry exactly once. Despite defending ISS and Glass Lewis, both of which are foreign owned, the letter never acknowledged nor conceded that their near total control of the market is problematic. This is notable given Sen. Warren’s long career championing antitrust action against Big Tech, calling to break up major banks, and introducing legislation to strengthen competition enforcement across sectors. ISS and Glass Lewis’ market domination, which currently stands at 97 percent, seems like it should be among the industries that need regulation the most.

.@RepBryanSteil calls out conflict of interest issues in the proxy advisor industry and makes the case for reform. ⬇️

.@FinancialCmte Chairman @RepFrenchHill and @SECPaulSAtkins on how proxy advisors have weaponized corporate governance and the need for stronger regulatory oversight.⬇️

Two foreign-owned firms control more than 90% of the proxy advisor market — and most Americans with a retirement plan or pension have no idea how much power ISS and Glass Lewis have over their financial future. With the leadership of @FinancialCmte Chairman @RepFrenchHill, Subcommittee Chairman @RepBryanSteil, and @SECGov Chairman @SECPaulSAtkins, the proxy advisor industry is receiving the scrutiny it deserves. ACII is proud to support the push for real transparency and oversight. Key excerpts from today’s @FinancialCmte hearing: aciinstitute.org/news/hfsc-hear…

.@SECGov Chairman @SECPaulSAtkins deserves credit for calling out the weaponization of shareholder proposals and how it has become a barrier to IPOs in America. Keeping companies going public in our country is critical to our economy and prosperity.

Today, @CFTC staff is expanding the list of eligible tokenized collateral to include stablecoins issued by national trust banks. With the enactment of the GENIUS Act and the CFTC’s new eligible collateral framework, America is the global leader in stablecoin innovation.

The foreign-owned proxy advisor duopoly of ISS and Glass Lewis makes recommendations that can make or break a U.S. company's strategic initiatives and determine whether boards get elected — all without having to demonstrate the accuracy of their research or answer for their mistakes. When proxy advisors get it wrong, there are no consequences. It’s time for real oversight and accountability. Read more from ACII's Blaine Luetkemeyer and @LacyClayMO1: aciinstitute.org/news/congress-…

NEW: ACII CEO Blaine Luetkemeyer and @LacyClayMO1 op-ed in @AmerBanker: “Congress must act to bring real accountability to proxy advisory firms” aciinstitute.org/news/congress-…