The Wall Street Journal
Death by Accounting?
The likelihood of a flu pandemic this season may be remote, but many in Washington don't want to take chances. Agencies from the Centers for…
News Release
Banks, Credit Unions Should Not Be Threatened for Doing Business with Cannabis Industry
Cannabis businesses have real trouble securing banking services, due to the fact their product remains illegal under federal law. Today the Senate Banking Committee held…
DepositAccounts
Banking 101: What Is the Durbin Amendment?
DepositAccounts cites Senior Fellow John Berlau on Dodd-Frank and the Durbin Amendment. “In 2009, the year before Dodd-Frank, 76% of checking accounts were…
News Release
Heavy-Handed Regulations Could Deny Consumers the Benefits of New Facebook Cryptocurrency
The House Financial Services Committee will hold a hearing todayfocused on Facebook’s new cryptocurrency, “Libra.” The hearing will consider the cryptocurrency’s impact on consumers, investors and…
News Release
Mnuchin Pushes Discredited Arguments Against Cryptocurrency
On news today that Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin warned against Facebook’s proposed digital currency, Libra, as a national security risk and potential boon to “money…
Blog
Defiance of Congress Melts Federal Reserve Credibility
In advance of his testimony yesterday before the House Financial Services Committee, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell was the subject of a front-page story in The…
Consumer Reports
One Month Left to Opt Out of Chase Binding Arbitration
Consumer Reports cites Senior Fellow John Berlau on credit card regulations. According to John Berlau, a senior fellow at the Competitive Enterprise Institute,…
News Release
Senate Bill Targets Big Tech but Empowers Regulators over Consumers or Investors
Senate lawmakers Mark Warner (D-VA) and Josh Hawley (R-MO) have a new bill to force Big Tech firms (like Facebook, Google, and Amazon) to calculate…
Blog
Facebook Libra Highlights Flaws of Fed Foray into Real-Time Payments
More than ten years after the pseudonymous Satoshi Nakamoto published the source code for Bitcoin, and after hundreds of other cryptocurrencies have been introduced, Facebook…
Phys.org
With Virtual Money, Facebook Bets on Disrupting the World, Again
Phys.org cites CEI’s Senior Fellow on Facebook’s new cryptocurrency. “If successful, Libra could have benefits for consumers and small businesses in reducing the transaction…
News Release
Regulators Should Let Consumers and Merchants Decide the Fate of Facebook’s Cryptocurrency
Facebook, Inc. today released a white paper outlining plans to launch a new cryptocurrency named “Libra.” According to the white paper, Libra would be built…
Reason
Stop Treating the Government With Respect
Reason cites Senior Fellow John Berlau on regulatory agencies. Those strictures no longer look so strict. New York state’s blue-tribe government last year…
Fox Business
What Investors Need To Know About SEC’s New Broker Standards
Fox Business cites Senior Fellow John Berlau on new SEC broker standards. “Hopefully, the new rules will protect investors from fraud and deception…
Blog
SEC’s ‘Regulation Best Interest’ Respects Investor Choice
Today, the Securities and Exchange Commission approved final rules that comprise “Regulation Best Interest,” which will govern conduct of broker-dealers in their transactions with retail investors. Any…
Blog
Don’t Let Credit Scoring Kerfuffle Compromise GSE Reform
Just when it seemed that reforming the government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs) Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac was becoming a “third rail” that politicians did not want…
The Hill
Federal Reserve defies White House and Congress on Banking Regulation
President Trump and the Federal Reserve continue to clash over interest rates, but another simmering dispute concerns the regulatory burden the Federal Reserve and other…
Blog
Shed Light on Cryptocurrency ‘Dark Matter’ Regulation at SEC
A few days ago, the Trump administration issued a memorandum strongly discouraging what the Competitive Enterprise Institute’s Wayne Crews has called “regulatory dark matter.” The…
News Release
SEC Threatens Access to Cryptocurrency and Other Digital Goods
The Competitive Enterprise Institute today released a report warning that government regulation of cryptocurrency as a “security” threatens innovation in financial transactions and other consumer…
Study
Cryptocurrency and the SEC’s Limitless Power Grab
Many questions are being asked about cryptocurrency. Is it a major innovation that will improve standards of living in ways we cannot yet imagine? Or…
Blog
Lyft and the ‘Cheers’ IPOs: How Overregulation Leaves Middle-Class Investors Behind
After much anticipation, Lyft finally went public today, opening on NASDAQ at $87.24 per share—well above its initial public offering price of $72. Lyft’s market…
Blog
SEC Should Stop Coercing Brokers to Buy Data From Exchanges
There are many types of burdensome government mandates, but of all the Ten Thousand Commandments, regulations that coerce the purchase of a particular product or…
Crowdfund Insider
The House Financial Services Committee: What Should Fintech Expect from Chair Maxine Waters?
Crowdfund Insider cited Senior Fellow John Berlau on his predictions for Representative Waters: John Berlau, of the Competitive Enterprise Institute, recently …
Comment
CEI Comments to the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection Proposed Policy on No-Action Letters and Product Sandbox
On behalf of the Competitive Enterprise Institute (“CEI"), we are pleased to provide the following comment letter on the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection’s (“Bureau,”…
News Release
Senate Plan to Reform Mortgage Giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac Would Make Things Worse for Taxpayers, Consumers
Senate Banking Committee chairman Mike Crapo released a proposal today to reform mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, but the plan creates a big…
Blog
Rep. Waters Reiterates Support for JOBS Act 3.0
In a major speech to a liberal group outlining her priorities as chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) sharply criticized…
Newsmax
Don’t Let Red Tape Stunt Innovative Cryptocurrency
As cryptocurrency and the associated blockchain celebrate their tenth birthdays, the new “Free to Prosper” agenda for the 116th Congress — published by my…
Blog
Agenda for the 116th Congress: The Second Decade of Crypto-Blockchain
As cryptocurrency and the associated blockchain celebrate their tenth birthdays, CEI’s new “Free to Prosper” agenda for the 116th Congress aims to ensure bureaucratic red…
Blog
Year in Review 2018: Operation Choke Point
Every Halloween, there exists the temptation for commentators to describe routine events in the news with adjectives like “scary” and “frightening.” Sensitive to sounding clichéd…
Blog
Best Books of 2018: Judicial Fortitude
My pick for one of the best books of this year is “Judicial Fortitude: The Last Chance to Rein in the Administrative State” (Encounter Books,…
Cayman Financial Review
Judicial Fortitude: The Last Chance To Rein In the Administrative State, by Peter Wallison
Peter Wallison is a rarity in public life. He has been both a high-level government official in the administration of President Ronald Reagan and a…
National Mortgage Professional
Senate Confirms Kraninger to Run CFPB
National Mortgage Professional cited CEI’s John Berlau on the Senate’s confirmation of Kathleen Kraninger as Director of CFPB. “John Berlau, Senior Fellow at the…
News Release
CEI Commends Trump Nominee to Oversee Housing Finance Agency
President Trump has nominated economist Mark Calabria to head the agency in charge of supervising government-sponsored mortgage loan buyers Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The…
Inside ARM
BREAKING: Senate Confirms Kraninger As Next Director Of BCFP
Inside ARM cited CEI’s Senior Fellow John Berlau on Kathy Kraninger confirmation. Today, the Senate voted on and confirmed Kathy Kraninger as the…
News Release
CEI Hopes New Director of Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection Will Continue Tough-But-Fair Approach to Regulation
Competitive Enterprise Institute Senior Fellow John Berlau praised today’s Senate confirmation of President Trump’s nominee to head the powerful Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection (BCFP)…
Breitbart
CFPB Nominee Kathleen Kraninger Clears Cloture Hurdle In Senate
Breitbart cited CEI’s Senior Fellow John Berlau and Policy Analyst Daniel Press on Kathleen Kraninger nomination. The vote was strictly along party lines,…
IA InsideARM
Senate Vote On Kraninger To Lead BCFP Expected Tomorrow
IA InsideARM cited CEI’s Senior Fellow John Berlau and Policy Analyst Daniel Press on BCFP nominee Kathleen Kraninger. As insideARM reported earlier,…
News Release
Senate Should Confirm Trump Nominee for Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection: CEI Statements
This week, the United States Senate is expected to vote on President Trump’s nominee to head the powerful Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection. CEI financial…
Blog
Lame Duck Session Should Undo Crippling Rules on Middle-Class Investors and Entrepreneurs
Next year, with Congress divided once again, bipartisan legislation will be the order of the day. Indeed for passage of both chambers, it will be…
USA Today
Tesla Shareholders, Not the Government, Should Hold the CEO Leash
Depending on whom you talk to, Tesla CEO Elon Musk is either the next Henry Ford or the next P.T. Barnum. Musk’s explosive tweets reverberate…
ACA International
Plaintiffs in BCFP Constitutionality Case File Petition for Consideration with U.S. Supreme Court
ACA International cited CEI’s Senior Fellow John Berlau on Constitutionality Lawsuit against CFPB. Three groups, including State National Bank of Big Spring, Texas, are asking…
News Release
Ten Year Anniversary of Financial Crisis and Nothing Has Improved
It’s been 10 years since investment bank Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy as of September 15, marking the epicenter of the infamous 2008 financial crisis.
Blog
Supreme Court Should Decide if Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection Is Unconstitutional
Today, the Competitive Enterprise Institute is asking the Supreme Court to hear the lawsuit we filed challenging the constitutionality of the Bureau of Consumer Financial…
News Release
Supreme Court Asked to Hear Challenge to Constitutionality of Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
The State National Bank of Big Spring, Texas, the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI), and the 60 Plus Association on September 6 petitioned the United States…
Forbes
Let Middle-Class Investors Join the ‘Accredited’ Club
With the increasing focus on inequality and cronyism on both Left and Right, one would think that politicians and bureaucrats would rush to get rid…
Blog
Confirm Kraninger, Rein in Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection
Today, the Senate Banking Committee will likely vote to send the nomination of Kathleen Kraninger for director of the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection to…
News Release
CEI Endorses Trump Nominee for Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection
Competitive Enterprise Institute Senior Fellow John Berlau expressed CEI’s support for President Trump’s nominee to head the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection:…
Blog
Elizabeth Warren’s Hypocrisy on Financial Regulation: Part 1
As far as politicians’ transgressions go, I usually don’t get that riled up about hypocrisy. In the course of voting on and debating so many…
Blog
Securities and Exchange Commission Bests Labor Department ‘Fiduciary Rule,’ But Still Adds Red Tape
In March, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals killed the Obama administration’s “fiduciary rule,” a prime example of the “bureaucrats know best” type of…
Blog
Federal Charters May Remove Interest Rate Uncertainty for Fintech Firms
The July 31 policy statement by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) announcing that it will now grant “special purpose national…
Blog
In U.S. and Australia, Payment Card Price Controls Create Many Unhappy Returns
Eight years ago this month, the Democrat-controlled House and Senate passed and President Barack Obama signed into law the so-called Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and…