The Washington Times
Trump Administration Finalizes ‘Fair Access’ Banking Rule
The Washington Times cites Senior Fellow John Berlau on the “Fair Access” banking rule: “The rule will lead to more, not less,…
Blog
Treasury, FHFA Reverse ‘Net Worth Sweep” at Fannie and Freddie
The headlines yesterday were that the Trump administration had failed to exit Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac from the government-owned conservatorship. This is true…
News Release
New Bank Fair Access Rule Will Cause Costly State of Uncertainty, Red Tape
Today the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, an independent bureau within the United States Department of the Treasury, finalized a new mandate…
National Review
A Big-Government Crackdown on ‘Woke Capital’
National Review cites Senior Fellow John Berlau on the OCC proposed Rule on “Fair Access to Financial Services”: There’s also the matter…
News Release
Biden’s SEC Pick Should Focus on Commission’s Core Mission, Not Political Causes: CEI Experts
President-elect Biden is reportedly set to select Gary Gensler to head the Securities and Exchange Commission. Gensler is a current MIT professor who previously served…
News Release
CFPB Taskforce Offers Recommendations to Help Consumers, Fintech Firms
In response to a new report from the CFPB Taskforce on Federal Consumer Financial Law, CEI Senior Fellow John Berlau praised recommendations aimed at helping…
Comment
CEI Comments on OCC Proposed Rule on “Fair Access to Financial Services”
View Full Document as PDF Dear Ms. Boyes: On behalf of the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI), I submit this comment letter in opposition…
Real Clear Policy
Why Critics Should Leave Section 230’s Liability Protections Alone
Attacks on Section 230, the liability limiting shield for online platforms, are coming from President Trump, Republicans and Democrats on Capitol Hill. But the debate around curtailing or…
News Release
CFPB Makes Needed Changes to Qualified Mortgage Rules
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau today issued final rules related to qualified mortgage loans, which require lenders to determine at the onset that consumers…
National Review
Why a ‘Fairness Doctrine’ for Woke Capital Will Backfire on Conservatives
In his majority opinion in Burwell v. Hobby Lobby, Justice Samuel Alito noted that a “corporation is simply a form of organization used by human…
News Release
Corporate Transparency Act Threatens Small Businesses, Privacy Rights
The House today is expected to pass a controversial bill impacting a wide swath of American businesses, as part of the must-pass National Defense Authorization…
News Release
Comptroller Plan to Impose ‘Fairness Doctrine’ for Banks Goes Against Freedom of Association
CEI Senior Fellow John Berlau criticized a proposal by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) to impose a “fairness doctrine”…
Blog
President Trump Should Waive Dodd-Frank Provision Harming Vaccine and Ventilator Production and Distribution
The announcement by Pfizer that the vaccine it is developing with German firm BioNTech may be 90 percent effective against COVID-19 is worth celebrating.
Wall Street Journal
Dodd-Frank Undermines the Fight Against Covid
Blog
Finally, a Fix for Fannie and Freddie
In my recent blog post on the 10th anniversary of Dodd-Frank, I lamented that while “this supposed ‘financial reform’ has caused harmful and sometimes…
News Release
New CEI Report Finds Bipartisan Embrace of Harmful, Interventionist Tech Policies
Neither major political party holds a monopoly on bad ideas when it comes to federal policy towards the technology sector, according to a…
Study
Terrible Tech 2.0
View Full Document as PDF Executive Summary If you are looking for bipartisanship in Washington, D.C., the technology policy sector may be your…
Comment
CEI Comments on Federal Housing Finance Agency’s Proposed Regulatory Capital Framework
News Release
SEC Takes Step Towards Equality, Against Privilege with Change to Accredited Investor Rule
Today the Securities and Exchange Commission announced action to liberalize so-called accredited investor regulation. John Berlau, a longtime proponent of such reform, praised the decision.
Blog
Tragedy of Young Investor Shouldn’t Be Exploited to Harm Freedoms
The recent death of Alexander Kearns, the 20-year-old day trader who took his own life, has sparked a conversation about the business practices of an increasingly important…
National Review
When George Washington Met Moses
In 1790, the United States of America was a new nation, but Moses Seixas was already living what would come to be called the American Dream.
Forbes
From SpaceX To George Washington: How Our First President Welcomed Balloon Flight And Predicted Air Travel
With its splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico, the SpaceX Crew Dragon became the latest vehicle to continue the tradition of manned flights taking off from and…
American Greatness
U.S. Economy Suffers Biggest Quarterly Decline Ever, Under Coronavirus Lockdowns
American Greatness cites CEI senior fellows John Berlau and Iain Murray: The U.S. House of Representatives and Senate are considering bills for additional coronavirus relief…
Forbes
Don’t Exploit Tragedy To Curtail Beneficial Fintech Investing Apps
My colleague Joshua Rutzick, research associate at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, contributed significantly to the research and writing of this post. The recent death of…
Forbes
Don’t Exploit Tragedy to Curtail Beneficial Fintech Investing Apps
The recent death of Alexander Kearns, the 20-year-old day trader who took his own life, has sparked a conversation about the business practices…
News Release
Repeal #NeverNeeded Regulations Hindering Use of Tech at Home During Deadly Pandemic
The COVID-19 crisis has severely tested individuals and businesses, making access to technologies and services that enabled large swaths of the American economy to move…
Study
Repeal of #NeverNeeded Regulations Can Help People Stay Home and Safe During the COVID-19 Crisis
As individuals and businesses continue to address the COVID-19 health crisis, access to technologies and services that have enabled large swaths of the economy to…
Blog
Dodd-Frank Still Harmful After a Decade, But Modest Deregulation Has Helped
Dodd-Frank has caused harmful and sometimes disastrous effects for consumers, investors, entrepreneurs, and Main Street financial institutions such as community banks and credit unions. The…
Blog
CFPB’s Kraninger Should Drop Navient Litigation in Light of Supreme Court Holding
CEI has praised Kathy Kraninger, director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, for her many deregulatory initiatives that—in contrast to her predecessor, Richard Cordray—protect consumer…
The Wall Street Journal
‘George Washington, Entrepreneur’ Review: Mount Vernon Industries
News Release
CFPB Offers Relief on Small Dollar Loans
Today, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) released its long-awaited final rewrite of the payday lending rule, formally titled the Payday, Vehicle Title, and Certain…
Blog
George Washington’s Fight (and Ours) against Regulation without Representation
Those who have followed CEI over the years know that one of our main grievances is “Regulation Without Representation.” The phrase—an apt description of laws…
Blog
Why George Washington Shouldn’t Be Canceled
The father of our country is making news, but for disappointing reasons. Washington was trending on Twitter after his statue was toppled in Portland. A private…
The Crypto Report
Ron Paul Fights For Bitcoin After Fed’s Payments System Threatens Crypto
The Crypto Report cites CEI senior fellow John Berlau regarding FedNow: Ever the champion of individual liberty, it is no surprise that Ron Paul…
Blog
Fedcoin and FedNow are Dangerous and Unnecessary Expansions of Federal Reserve Power
To counter the financial damage from America’s national lockdown, the Federal Reserve has taken unprecedented stepsy. Most of these moves received grudging acceptance even from…
News Release
Report: FedNow and FedCoin are Dangerous Expansions of Federal Reserve Power
A new Competitive Enterprise Institute report criticizes proposals for a central bank-issued cryptocurrency, which many call Fedcoin or digital dollar, as well as the Fed’s…
Study
Government-Run Payment Systems Are Unsafe at Any Speed
For people quarantining during the COVID-19 health crisis, electronic payments proved essential to obtaining needed supplies, from groceries to medicines, while maintaining social distancing and…
Blog
My Answer to J.K. Rowling on What Cryptocurrency Is
To paraphrase a famous financial services commercial from the 1970s and 1980s, when J.K. Rowling asks, people answer. When the famed author of the Harry…
News Release
CFPB Signals New Policies for Small-Dollar Lending, Mortgages
Just prior to Memorial Day weekend, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on May 22 announced two No-Action Letter Templates that will impact small-dollar lending and…
Comment
CEI Comments on SEC Proposed Rules to Restrict Investor Access to Certain Funds
Legal Brief
Petition for Rulemaking to End the Commission’s Backdoor Regulation of 12b-1 Fees
News Release
Broad Alliance of Financial Services and Public Interest Groups File Petition for Rulemaking Challenging SEC’s Unlawful Regulation by Enforcement
The need for our government to set forth consistent, predictable rules has never been greater, and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is no exception. …
Blog
SEC’s Shuttering of Fund Fees – #NeverNeeded and Never Authorized
Over the past month, CEI and others have pointed to #NeverNeeded regulations that are hindering our response to the COVID-19 pandemic and to economic dislocation.
Blog
Modified Libra Cryptocurrency Still an Innovation, but Clear away Regulatory Barriers for More
Libra and other cryptocurrencies could serve functions other than initially imagined. The potential for faster payments from Libra and other cryptocurrencies, at a time when…
News Release
Libra Cryptocurrency Progress May Aid COVID-19 Economic Recovery
The Libra Association today announced progress made on modifying its Facebook-developed cryptocurrency and payment system to meet regulatory concerns.
Blog
How SEC Accounting Regulations Hindered National Stockpile—and Still May Be Doing So
In a new report, CEI experts outline #NeverNeeded regulations that are frustrating responses to the pandemic and its aftermath. Among those is an obscure Securities…
News Release
Congress Should Reject Scheme to Use COVID-19 Stimulus to Impose Interest Rate Cap
Special interest groups are pressuring Congress to use the Coronavirus Stimulus Phase III bill as a vehicle for imposing a nationwide interest rate cap on…
News Release
CEI Experts Blast Attempts to Politicize COVID-19 Relief Bill
While the nation suffers, Washington has descended into an unseemly squabble over the latest COVID-19 relief bill. Politicians from all quarters are attempting to expand…
Blog
Don’t Save Restaurants by Shafting Consumers
Restaurants are among the hardest—if not the hardest—hit of industries impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Like other industries, restaurants are lobbying Congress and state legislatures…
The Wall Street Journal
The SEC Wants to Be Your Nanny
A proposed rule would limit investments in risky funds to those with ‘financial sophistication,’ putting middle-class investors at a disadvantage.