CEI has fought excessive regulation in the financial sector from laws such as Sarbanes-Oxley and Dodd-Frank. We have scored major bipartisan victories for deregulation. These include the Jumpstart Our Business Startups (JOBS) Act, signed by President Obama in 2012, that lifted or relaxed some of the biggest burdens preventing small and midsize firms from raising capital and going public; and the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act, signed by President Trump in 2018, that lifted some of Dodd-Frank’s crushing burden on community banks and credit unions. We continue to fight to remove regulatory barriers that limit choices and increase costs for entrepreneurs, investors, and consumers.
Banking and Finance Issue Areas
Featured Posts
National Review
America’s Misplaced Income Priorities
The national inequality debate is asking the wrong questions. Pundits are cheering a recent Congressional Budget Office (CBO) report showing a…
Blog
Why can’t we just print more money?
Last week, I attended an event at a think tank where the conversation centered on the federal budget and national debt. At one…
Blog
Buy Now, Pay Later doesn’t mean pay more, owe more, and panic more
Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) has become a familiar way to pay for everything from discretionary purchases to everyday expenses. BNPL lets consumers divide…
Search Posts
Newsletter
Genachowski for FCC, Obama Meets with Gordon Brown and the Threat of a Carbon Tax
President Obama nominates technology advisor Julius Genachowski to head the Federal Communications Commission. British Prime Minister Gordon Brown visits the White House to discuss international…
News Release
Obama Foreclosure Plan Hurts Middle-Class Investors, Retirees
Contact: Cord Blomquist 202-615-0600 Obama Foreclosure Plan Hurts Middle-Class Investors, Retirees Washington, D.C. , March…
Letters
Proposed Taxes on Reinsurance Will Hurt Consumers
Full Document Available in PDF Additional taxes on reinsurance transactions would wreak havoc with…
News Release
Think Tank Questions Revised AIG Bailout
Early this morning, federal regulators and AIG officials announced revised terms for the bailout of the now-government-controlled insurance giants. The terms ease AIG’s obligations in…
Op-Eds
A Tax to Weaken America
President Obama said last Thursday that he would not cut spending “on investments that will make America stronger.” He really meant that…
News Release
Free Market Think Tank Blasts My Safe Florida Home Termination
Contact: Eli Lehrer 202-615-0586 Christian R. Cámara 305-608-4300 Free Market Think Tank Blasts My Safe Florida Home Termination A rare government program worth saving…
News Release
Tax Proposal Would Hurt American Consumers
Contact Eli Lehrer: (202) 615-0586 Tax Proposal Would Hurt American Consumers Affiliated Reinsurance Penalties Would Imperil…
Zibb
CEI Naming Vermont Best, Florida Worst for State Insurance Regulation
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CEI Naming Vermont Best, Florida Worst for State Insurance Regulation
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Flood Insurance Plan To Get Extension
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A House Appropriations Bill Calling for a Six-Month Flood Insurance Extension
News Release
Congress Poised to Extend Flawed Flood Insurance Program
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Newsletter
Obama’s Housing Plan, Privacy on Facebook and Fairness Doctrine 2.0
President Obama announces a $75 billion mortgage “rescue” plan. Changes to the terms of service on Facebook raise a ruckus among privacy activists. The White…
Study
The Truth About Online Gambling
Michelle Minton explores why government shouldn't treat gambling as if we lived in the Old West.
Study
Poker as a Game of Skill
Full document available in pdf It’s two minutes before the cards are…
Newsletter
Bottled Water Wars, Stimulus Disaster and Offshore Oil
Activists urge local governments to enact policies opposing the sale of bottled water. The Dow Jones Industrial Average drops dramatically as President Obama signs a…
News Release
Statement on Obama Foreclosure Avoidance Plan
Statement on Obama Foreclosure Avoidance Plan by John Berlau, Director of CEI’s Center for Investors and Entrepreneurs The new $75 billion foreclosure avoidance…
Blog
Bad McCarty! Bad!
Will regulators never learn? You can’t force businesses to actively pursue a business model that is unprofitable. Florida’s Governor Charlie Crist and Insurance regulator Kevin…
Newsletter
Stimulus Signing, Washington the Entrepreneur and California Emissions
President Obama prepares to sign the $787 billion federal stimulus package into law. Americans across the country celebrate the birthday of George Washington. The Environmental…
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Scholars Saddness at Seeing State Farm Go
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Florida Seeking Federal Aid To Close Gap In Hurricane Fund, With Startups At Risk
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Florida Seeking Federal Aid To Close Gap In Hurricane Fund, With Startups At Risk
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Don’t Let Judges Tear Up Mortgage Contracts
The nation faces a foreclosure crisis of historic proportions, and there is an understandable desire on the part of the federal government to “do something”…
Newsletter
Stimulus Upon Us, Lethal Wildfires Down Under and Satellite Radio Takes a Hit
Republican and Democratic leaders in Congress reach a deal to spend $789 billion in taxpayer money on “economic stimulus.” The death toll from wildfires in…
TMC Net
Optional Federal Charters for insurance companies
TMC Net
Property insurance reform in Florida
Florida Real Estate Journal
Property insurance reform in Florida
TMC Net
There Being Little Chance of OFC Opponents Being Swayed by ‘New-and-Improved’ Bill
TMC Net
Critics Hitting U.S. Insurance Regulator Bill Proposal
Property and Casualty Insurance News
Critics Hitting U.S. Insurance Regulator Bill Proposal
News Release
CEI Comments on Proposed National Regulatory Modernization
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Op-Eds
Don’t Punish the Shareholders, Too
In justifying a change of policy on negotiating corporate penalties, the new chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, Mary Schapiro, stressed the…
Newsletter
Senate Stimulus, Geithner’s Banking Plan and a Florida Insurance Bailout
The Senate passes an $838 billion economic stimulus package. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner announces a new plan to revitalize troubled U.S. banks. Florida officials look…
Property and Casualty Insurance News
Crist Lobbying Obama for National CAT Fund
Study
Let Credit Unions Lend More
Eli Lehrer makes the case for expanding credit union business lending, which would unlock otherwise idle capital and thereby help create jobs.
Letters
Coalition Opposes Proposed Taxes for Affiliated Reinsurance
Full Document Available in PDF The Honorable Max Baucus Chairman Senate Finance Committee 219 Dirksen Senate Office Building Washington, D.C.
News Release
Public Interest Groups Unite to Oppose Stimulus
Competitive Enterprise Institute Senior Fellow Iain Murray will join representatives from the Council for Citizens Against Government Waste (CCAGW), the National Taxpayers Union and several other…
Blog
No Florida Insurance Bailout
It seems that the state of Florida has overpromised insurance coverage to its citizens in the case of a catastrophic storm, and now is…
Newsletter
Stocks Drop, Thrift Stores Threatened and Spending Tobacco Money
Stock values drop as investors await the passage of an economic stimulus bill and the new rules and restrictions that it will come with. New…
Property and Casualty Insurance News
Florida’s Hurricane Catastrophe Fund
Property and Casualty Insurance News
Florida office director for the Competitive Enterprise Institute Scores for Fla.’s McCarty For Cat Fund Lobbying Effort
Property and Casualty Insurance News
Florida office director for the Competitive Enterprise Institute Scores for Fla.’s McCarty For Cat Fund Lobbying Effort
News Release
Florida Doesn’t Deserve a Federal Bailout, Think Tank Says
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News Release
Senate Approves Stimulus, Steps off Economic Cliff
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Newsletter
Stimulus Showdown, New SEC Rules and Obama’s Labor Pains
Aides on Capitol Hill prepare for negotiations between House and Senate versions of the economic stimulus bill. New Securities and Exchange Commission chair Mary Schapiro…
News Release
SEC Decision on Corporate Penalties Could Harm Investors
SEC Decision on Corporate Penalties Could Harm Investors Watchdog Group Urges Chairman Schapiro to Reconsider…
Op-Eds
Insurer’s Exit Leaves Florida on the Brink
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Newsletter
Stimulus Trade Wars, Smart Grids and Bank Nationalization
Lawmakers propose applying a “buy American” restriction to projects funded by the economic stimulus package. Energy companies lobby for subsidies for a national “smart” electrical…
Property and Casualty Insurance News
Election Reopening National Catastrophe Fund Debate
News Release
Opposition Builds to Senate Stimulus Bill
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Staff & Scholars
John Berlau
Senior Fellow and Director of Finance Policy
- Banking and Finance
- Deregulation
- Financial Regulation
Iain Murray
Vice President for Strategy and Senior Fellow
- Banking and Finance
- Trade and International
Steve Swedberg
Finance and Monetary Policy Analyst
- Banking and Finance
- Deregulation
- Financial Regulation