News Release
Courts should allow CFPB to vacate case against small mortgage firm
U.S. District Judge Franklin Valderrama on June 12 denied a request by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to vacate a Biden-era settlement against the Chicago-based mortgage…
Blog
The CFPB director’s dominance over adjudication must end
On behalf of CEI, I submitted a new comment to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) calling on the Bureau to rescind one…
Comment
CEI comments on CFPB: Rules of Practice for Adjudication Proceedings
Blog
How IAIS advances DEI policies
As explained in an earlier blog post, the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) has drifted away from its mission and is actively working…
Blog
SEC commissioners regain subpoena power, potentially curtailing record-level fines
After 16 years, commissioners at the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) finally adopted a rule to regain the authority to launch investigations from the…
Blog
CEI primer on agency adjudication
Agency adjudication is the process by which administrative agencies resolve legal disputes that implicate regulatory policies. Agencies render decisions through in-house tribunals commonly known as…
Blog
The shadow nonprofit’s push for ESG
Nonprofit interest groups play a significant role in advancing policy change in government. The IRS affords tax exemption to thousands of these groups via their…
News Release
CFPB seeks to un-do lawsuit against small mortgage firm: CEI statement
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau this week took the unusual step of requesting to vacate a lawsuit and settlement penalizing a small Chicago-based mortgage…
Blog
SEC restores corporate control over ESG proposals
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has wasted no time in reforming controversial regulations under the Trump administration. Beyond targeting formal rules, GOP commissioners have…
Blog
Legislation would restore the full power of the Seventh Amendment
Rep. Harriet Hageman (R-WY) has introduced a bill offering the first legislative step toward administrative law court (ALC) reform. Known as the Seventh…
RealClear Energy
SEC’s Climate Risk Disclosure Rule Would Compel Companies to Make Scientifically False and Misleading Disclosures
In March last year, the Securities and Exchange Commission issued its climate risk disclosure rule, called “The Enhancement and Standardization of Climate-Related Disclosures for Investors.” …
Op-Eds
Op-Ed: Why states should avoid the temptation to tax unrealized gains
Prospects for a federal wealth tax could be nil in the Trump era, but states – specifically blue states – may be tempted to take…
Blog
SEC abandons legal arguments in favor of climate disclosure rule
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced this month that it will no longer defend the indefensible, abandoning in court its arguments favoring mandatory…
Blog
Trio of agencies scrap their climate disclosure mandate, SEC should take note
Prior to Inauguration Day 2025, the Department of Defense (DoD), General Service Administration (GSA), and National Aeronautics Space Administration (NASA) collectively withdrew a…
The Daily Economy
Federal Agencies Stack Their Courts Against You
Winning a case against the federal government is difficult. Most federal agencies are well represented by an army of skilled attorneys. The Department of Justice…
Restoring America
Trump must cancel CFPB censorship
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and tech entrepreneur Marc Andreessen dropped bombshells on the popular Joe Rogan Experience about political persecution from financial…
Blog
Regulators need to cool off and slow down their rulemakings
Rep. Harriet Hageman (R-WY) has reintroduced an important bill that would make the administrative rulemaking process fairer for the public. Known as the “Regulatory…
Blog
DOGE should investigate Biden’s natural capital accounts
With an incoming Congress and president at the helm, Republicans are taking aim at problematic Biden-era regulations. In concert with the Department of Government Efficiency…
Products
Free to Prosper: Corporate governance
National Review
Regulators Unleash a Climate-Disclosure Triple Threat to Businesses
U.S. businesses are bracing for a new wave of mandatory climate-disclosure policies in 2025 and beyond. The Securities and Exchange Commission, European Union, and California have…
Blog
US businesses brace for a triple climate disclosure burden
Thousands of US companies—both public and private—are bracing for an expensive wave of climate disclosure mandates. If regulators in the US and abroad have their…
News Release
Report: SEC climate disclosure rule complicated by EU, California
A new Competitive Enterprise Institute report explains the problem businesses face complying with complicated, disparate climate disclosure rules imposed by multiple governments – the federal…
Study
Climate Disclosure’s Triple Threat
Introduction Financial regulators from the US federal government, California, and Europe have each recently adopted climate disclosure rules for companies. These environmental, social, and governance…
Reason
Abolish the Securities and Exchange Commission
Reason cites CEI’s expert on the magnitude of SEC compliance costs Besides, the costs of SEC compliance are staggering. Looking at the climate disclosure rule…
City Journal
Defying Administrative Tyranny
Over Ruled: The Human Toll of Too Much Law, by Neil Gorsuch and Janie Nitze (HarperCollins, 304 pp., $25.60) It’s daunting…
Blog
Circuit Courts split over the SEC’s regulatory treatment of proxy advisors
The Fifth and Sixth Circuits are currently split over the legality of the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) Proxy Advisory Rule. Depending on what…
Blog
The ‘Carbon’ Futures Trading Commission vows to decarbonize futures trading
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) recently approved one of its most controversial guidance document to date. Under this new policy, the CFTC will…
Inman
Redlining settlement wouldn’t resolve 1st Amendment questions
Inman cited CEI’s experts on Consumer Financial Protection Bureau In an April 2023 Wall Street Journal op-ed, CEI fellows John Berlau and Stone…
Blog
In honor of Free Speech Week, end all regulatory gag orders
Free Speech Week is an annual, nonpartisan celebration of the indispensable right to speak one’s mind. While every level of government is expected…
Blog
House advances anti-ESG legislation on investments, pensions
The US House of Representatives recently passed a major ESG reform package that is on its way to the Senate. In a vote of…
Blog
Political review of agency adjudication and recommendations for reform
Abstract Formal agency adjudication reserves the final decision-making authority to the political leadership of the agency. Many organizations and watchdogs have taken issue with how…
GWU Regulatory Studies Center
Political Review of Agency Adjudication and Recommendations for Reform
Formal agency adjudication reserves the final decision-making authority to the political leadership of the agency. Many organizations and watchdogs have taken issue with how political…
Blog
ESG policy trembles in our post-Chevron world
The US Supreme Court recently rendered one of the most historic decisions in administrative law in the consolidated cases of Loper Bright v. Raimondo…
Freedom Works Radio Show
Freedom Works Radio Show
Freedom Works Radio Show interviewed one of CEI’s experts on corporate shareholder representation Listen to Freedom Works Radio Show for more…
Blog
The politics of proxy voting and the importance of shareholder representation
As the 2024 election quickly approaches, many Americans consider how their vote will affect political races. While our focus tends to be on the voting…
RealClear Energy
The SEC’s Climate Disclosure Rule Is a Dark Cloud Over Energy Abundance
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) climate disclosure rule posts real problems for public companies. The SEC’s mission is to do facilitate capital formation and…
Review-Journal
Yes, you do have the right to a jury trial
The Constitution says you have the right to a jury trial. At least in its in-house court, the Securities and Exchange Commission argued against that…
The Washington Examiner
The Inflation Reduction Act’s buyback tax restrains public company growth
The Biden administration and a Democratic-controlled Congress imposed a new tax on corporate stock buybacks as part of the …
Inside Sources
Yes, You Do Have the Right to a Jury Trial
The Constitution says you have the right to a jury trial. At least in its in-house court, the Securities and Exchange Commission argued against that…
Blog
Supreme Court’s Jarkesy decision sheds light on the SEC’s hidden advantages
The Supreme Court’s momentous decision in SEC v Jarkesy provides us with a rare glimpse into the murky realm of administrative adjudication. Despite there being more…
News Release
Supreme Court Ends Chevron Doctrine that Favored Regulatory Agencies in Court
The U.S. Supreme Court today overruled itself on a longstanding, controversial doctrine that gave regulatory agencies an unfair advantage in court – the so-called “Chevron…
News Release
Supreme Court curtails SEC administrative law court powers
The U.S. Supreme Court today ruled that a hedge fund manager accused of securities fraud is entitled to a jury trial because the Securities and…
Blog
Spam alert! A devastating outlook on the SEC’s final climate disclosure rule
I have a paper out today, exploring the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) landmark finalized climate disclosure rule and the many challenges it…
News Release
Report: SEC Climate Disclosure Rule Spams Investors, Arms Climate Alarmists
The Competitive Enterprise Institute today released a report on the controversial Securities and Exchange Commission climate disclosure rule, examining its legal and economic…
Study
Climate Disclosure Spam
Introduction “Despite cost-saving changes from the proposed rule, the final rule will prove expensive for public companies and their shareholders who will be paying for…
Blog
SEC’s Orwellian surveillance system faces its greatest challenge yet
The Eleventh Circuit Court will soon decide whether the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) acted arbitrarily and capriciously by proposing the first market-wide surveillance…
News Release
Court Rules Against Improper SEC Regulation of Private Equity, Hedge Fund Managers
The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals today ruled 3-0 against a controversial Securities and Exchange Commission 2023 rule regulating private equity and hedge fund…
Study
Adam Smith’s guide to life, loveliness, and the modern economy
Introduction: Going strong at 300 Ryan Young This essay collection celebrates Adam Smith’s 300th birthday. He is best known for being the first modern economist,…
Blog
Has ESG gone guerrilla warfare?
There has been much discussion recently over declining institutional support for environmental, social, and governance (ESG) investing theory. Many indications suggest that US shareholders…
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…