Blog
House GOP prepares CRA resolutions against Biden climate-risk rules, including SEC climate disclosure rule
Members of the House Financial Services Committee have passed four Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolutions targeting four Biden-era climate-risk rulemakings. Among these is a…
Blog
FTC tightens grip over its in-house judges
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) possesses one of the most conflicted administrative law court (ALC) systems. The agency recently began hiring new administrative…
Blog
The Fifth Circuit blocks the SEC’s climate disclosure rule in the first legal challenge to the rule
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) recently voted to approve its highly-awaited climate disclosure rule. However, fewer than 10 days after its finalization, the…
News Release
Fifth Circuit hits pause on the SEC climate disclosure rule: CEI analysis
A controversial climate disclosure rule put forward by the Securities and Exchange Commission has been stopped by a federal appeals court. On Friday, March 15,…
Blog
CEI briefs the public on the need for administrative law court reform
The Competitive Enterprise Institute recently hosted our first Capitol Hill event of the year, urging Congress to propose administrative law court (ALC) reform. Our…
Blog
The Stop Woke Investing Act and ‘ESG fatigue’
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has made it far too easy for activist shareholders to overturn the traditional proxy review process. The SEC’s…
National Review
The SEC’s Climate-Disclosure Rule Goes against 90 Years of Restraint
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is finalizing a mandatory climate-disclosure rule for public companies — perhaps the costliest regulatory mandate in its entire 90-year history.
Comment
Regulatory Comment on 88 FR 89410
To the Honorable Rostin Behnam, Chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, and the Honorable Commissioners Kristen N. Johnson, Cristy Goldsmith Romero, Summer K. Mersinger,…
Letters
Coalition Letter to Support the Stop Woke Investing Act (S. 3179)
We, the undersigned organizations, are writing in support of the Stop Woke Investing Act (S. 3179). The bill was introduced by Sens. Eric Schmitt…
The Center Square
Will the cap-and-trade repeal initiative succeed? The markets might think so
CEI’s Stone Washington was cited in The Center Square on the repeal of cap-and-trade: Stone Washington, research fellow with the Competitive Enterprise Institute’s Center for…
Blog
The full Scope of problems with the SEC’s climate disclosure rule
I have a paper out today, examining the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) proposed rule on mandatory climate disclosures. The SEC’s rule seeks…
News Release
Report: SEC climate disclosure rule imposes costs without value
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is finalizing a rule to require publicly traded companies to disclose climate and energy-use related data and information. The…
Study
Big Problems with SEC Climate Disclosure Mandate
The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is finalizing its mandatory climate disclosure rule[1] that will require publicly traded companies to provide the…
Blog
The Natural Asset Hydra
The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) recently proposed a radical rule to amend its manual for listing public companies to include a new form…
Comment
CEI comments on SEC’s proposed adoption of NYSE listing standards for “Natural Asset Companies”
TO: Securities and Exchange Commission FROM: Stone Allen Washington; Research Fellow at the Competitive Enterprise Institute RE: No. SR-NYSE-2023-09 To the Honorable Gary Gensler,…
Blog
When the FTC’s anti-merger goals overshadow the prospect of saving lives
The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals recently issued a ruling on the important case of Illumina-Grail v. Federal Trade Commission. A unanimous 3-0…
Blog
Transparent New Year: SEC shows its work after CEI prodding
As we enter the New Year, it is important to reflect on what went well and not so well in 2023. We should do our…
Blog
Should government-favored non-profits have their own shadow courts?
Imagine being sued by a private nonprofit that is sanctioned by a federal agency to enforce securities laws. The nonprofit appoints its own judges and…
National Review
Challenging the Excessive Powers of an Administrative Law Court
At least one form of government abuse might end soon. The U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments this term for Securities and Exchange Commission v. Jarkesy, which …
Yale Journal on Regulation
CEI Report on Agency Adjudication Reform
CEI’s Ryan Young and Stone Washington were cited in Yale Journal on Regulation in relation to a new CEI Report on Agency Adjudication Reform: Today,…
Blog
Obscuring the SEC’s climate disclosure rule may invite a host of legal problems
The US Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) pending climate disclosure rule has been delayed yet again. The climate disclosure rule will require publicly traded companies to quantify…
News Release
Administrative Law Courts Are Unfair and Need Reform
A new Competitive Enterprise Institute report delves into a court system that most people are unaware exists – administrative law courts, or ALCs. In addition…
Study
Conflict of Justice
Introduction Imagine that a federal agency has charged you with violating a law or regulation, and you have to defend yourself in court. But you…
The American Spectator
The Forces Behind ESG’s Blacklisting Effect
Underneath the political back-and-forth over environmental, social, and governance (ESG) investing, we are seeing a sinister shift in targets. What began as a campaign among…
Discourse Magazine
What America’s Recent Bank Failures Tell Us About ESG Phasing
Financial institutions that radically phase out fossil fuel and other politically scorned investments pose a serious risk to their own business, to investors and ultimately…
Blog
Exposing the federal bureaucracy’s blurry courts
Many federal agencies prevent regular Americans from understanding what they are up to by obscuring the work being conducted by their little-known administrative law courts…
Blog
SEC commissioner bashes private markets, shows why public capital flight is happening
Caroline Crenshaw, a designated Democratic commissioner with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) recently was sharply critical of private markets. “Investor protection and systemic risk…
Blog
Shareholder support for ESG proposals is falling
With the 2023 proxy voting season officially behind us, we can note a few trends in corporate governance that stood out. For one, it…
Blog
The SEC’s anti-competitive assault against private fund advisers
The Securities and Exchange Commission is adopting new rules that radically redefine how investment companies are regulated, undercutting the ability of private fund advisers to…
Blog
S&P Global downplays its ESG ratings. Will rival ratings firms follow suit?
S&P Global, a premier financial data company, has recently put an end to its quantitative environmental, social, and governance (ESG) rankings. Rather than issue…
Blog
America receives first debt downgrade in 12 years as history repeats itself
Fitch Ratings, a credit reporting agency, recently issued a foreboding outlook on America’s credit health. For the first time in 12 years, the United States…
Blog
Are we ready for a ‘Carbon’ Futures Trading Commission?
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) is testing the waters for its commodity-based carbon credit market. As an agency traditionally tasked with regulating commodities, the…
Discourse Magazine
Red and Blue States Take Sides in Federal ESG Fight
The environmental, social and governance (ESG) movement has become one of the most divisive issues among state legislators in 2023. ESG refers to a set…
Blog
Republican Working Group issues first critical report against ESG
Last month, the Republican Environmental, Social, and Governance Working Group (ESG Group) unveiled an interim report outlining GOP efforts to combat the ideological subversion of…
Daily Caller
Don’t Stop At College — End Race-Based Admissions In Public Schools
There’s an important battle brewing in our public schools between equity and treating students equally under the law. Equitable treatment of one class of students…
Blog
Adam Smith and the wealth of America
2023 is the 300th anniversary of Adam Smith’s birth. This post is part of a series highlighting aspects of Smith’s thought that continue to influence…
Blog
America takes Entrepreneurship Index top spot, former Soviet bloc countries close behind
Retail software maker Shopify recently released its “Entrepreneurship Index,” a global ecosystem of entrepreneurial activity. Shopify ranks the top ten countries with economies that…
Blog
Activist securities regulators should worry as Supreme Court revisits Chevron doctrine
The U.S. Supreme Court recently issued a major announcement that may impose significant changes to agency statutory interpretation. The Court has agreed to hear…
Blog
Time to rip the veil of secrecy off government agencies’ in-house courts
In a previous piece, we explored some of the pros and cons of administrative law courts (ALCs). These are regulatory agencies’ special in-house courts,…
Discourse Magazine
The SEC’s Progressive Rulemaking Will Be Its Statutory Undoing
Over the past two years, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has radically shifted priorities. It has moved from its mission of protecting investors and…
Blog
Has Gary Gensler turned the SEC into a regulatory ‘Hotel California’?
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chair Gary Gensler hadn’t testified before the U.S. House of Representatives for 18 months. Republican members made up for lost…
Blog
The Supreme Court’s Axon decision shatters the in-house advantage of administrative law courts
Last Friday, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a significant ruling that upended the adjudicatory monopoly enjoyed by administrative law courts (ALCs). In Axon…
Wall Street Journal
CFPB Tries to Censor Speech on Chicago Crime
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, a federal bureaucracy with a vast jurisdiction, is testing a novel approach to crime and punishment. In a lawsuit against…
Blog
Are Administrative Law Courts More Trouble Than They’re Worth?
As touched upon in an earlier piece, administrative law courts (ALCs) are a threat to the separation of powers, in which the executive branch…
Blog
Why Congress Must Think Twice About Adopting Biden’s Brazen Budget Proposal
Last Thursday, President Joe Biden finally unveiled his budget proposal for the upcoming fiscal year 2024. This marks the third straight year that Biden…
City Journal
“E” Doesn’t Stand for Environment
The Securities and Exchange Commission is nearing a decision on a proposed rule that would require publicly traded companies to indicate how their investments affect…
Blog
What Are Administrative Law Courts? Why Do They Matter?
The judicial branch is presumably an independent branch of government, alongside the legislative and executive branches. But many regulatory agencies have their own in-house court…
Blog
Congress Hands Biden His First Legislative Defeat by Overturning DOL ESG Rule Affecting Retirees
Republicans in Congress have just teed up the first major legislative rebuke to the Biden Administration’s environmental, social, and governance (ESG) policies. On Tuesday,…
Blog
Why the ETF is Uniquely American and Ideally Capitalist
A 30-year-old rule by the Securities and Exchange Commission succeeded in lowering barriers to entry for cheaper and more flexible investment options. In January, the…
The American Spectator
What Do Americans Really Think of ‘ESG’ Investing?
Investing to promote environmental, social, and governance (ESG) outcomes — rather than to just maximize profit — became the hot topic in finance this year…