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
Blog
How SAFER Banking Act poses new dangers to marijuana and other legal industries
Marijuana has been in the news lately, and the news seems to be overwhelmingly favorable to the industry in terms of reducing uncertainty as to…
Blog
Fed flirts with stimulus
As expected, the Federal Reserve signaled its commitment to fighting inflation by holding interest rates steady at this week’s Federal Open Market Committee meeting. It…
Blog
Weak GDP is first stress test for inflation fighters
I have been saying for a while that inflation expectations will remain high until policymakers prove they can restrain their stimulus spending during an economic…
Search Posts
Blog
Finance Regulators Create New National Charter for Innovative ‘Fintech’ Companies
After years of speculation, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) announced Tuesday that it would begin considering applications for special purpose…
Blog
New York State’s Flawed Online Lending Report
Earlier this month, the New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) released a study of online lending, including findings and recommendations for changes in…
News Release
CEI: Second Quarter Growth Shows Free Market Policies Work, but Restrictive Trade Policies Could Harm Future Growth
The Department of Commerce announced Friday morning the U.S. economy grew by 4.1 percent in the second quarter of 2018.
Blog
Trump Proposes $12 Billion in Aid to Farmers Hurt by His Tariffs
As we’ve been saying ever since this issue heated up, tariffs hurt the economy. There’s no way around it. Seeing this harm, President Trump…
Blog
Appeals Court Rules Federal Housing Finance Agency Unconstitutional
Big news out of the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals—the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) is unconstitutionally structured. The FHFA was created in the wake…
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…
Letters
CEI Joins Coalition Letter in Support of Rep. McHenry’s Amendment in FSGG Appropriations
On behalf of our organizations and the Americans we represent, we write to express support of your Amendment to Division B, within the Financial Services…
Blog
Five Questions for Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection Nominee Kathy Kraninger
Kathy Kraninger, President Trump’s nominee to head the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection (formerly known as the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, or CFPB), will…
Blog
Trump Reorg Plan One Step Forward, Two Steps Back on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac
My colleagues Trey Kovacs and Iain Murray and, in Forbes, Wayne Crews, give mixed reviews to President Trump’s long-awaited executive branch reorganization…
The Washington Examiner
Judge Protects Us from ‘Protection’ Bureau
As the Senate prepares for what should be a contentious confirmation hearing for President Trump’s nominee to head the powerful Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection…
Blog
Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection Must Define New Rulemaking Powers
When Congress passed the Dodd-Frank Act in 2010, there was an unprecedented allocation of power to the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection (BCFP—previously known as…
Comment
CEI Comments on the CFPB’s Request for Information Regarding Adopted Regulations and New Rulemaking Authorities
On behalf of the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI), we are pleased to provide the following comments on the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection’s (Bureau or…
News Release
CEI Urges Senate To Press CFPB Nominee on Stopping Regulatory Abuse
Over the past weekend, President Trump nominated Kathy Kraninger, an associate director at the Office of Management and Budget, to head the Bureau of Consumer…
Blog
Last Chance for the 115th: Unshackle Middle-Class Investors and Entrepreneurs
Congress and President Trump recently gave Main Street banks and credit unions some much-need but still modest relief from the mountains of red tape stemming…
Blog
Solar ‘Incentives’ Are Busting Out All Over
Ever wonder why installations of household solar photovoltaic (PV) systems and utility-scale solar power have surged since 2014? The declining cost of solar technology is…
Blog
Last Chance for the 115th: Bring Accountability to the Financial Regulators
In CEI’s “Free to Prosper: A Pro-Growth Agenda for the 115th Congress,” my colleagues John Berlau and Iain Murray made the enduring recommendation…
Blog
How to Improve Rulemaking at the CFPB
This week, the Competitive Enterprise Institute submitted comments to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, on how it could improve its rulemaking to provide a better…
Comment
CEI Comments on The Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection’s RIF Regarding Rulemaking Processes
On behalf of the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI), we are pleased to provide the following comments on the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection’s (bureau or…
News Release
Dodd-Frank Volcker Rule Rollback Will Help Entrepreneurs, Investors
The Federal Reserve Board is expected today to start rolling back the Volcker Rule, a controversial Dodd-Frank provision that prohibits federally insured commercial banks from…
Blog
Finance Regulators Pave Way for Banks to Reenter Small-Dollar Loan Market
Under the letter of the law, banks can now reenter the small-dollar lending space. On Wednesday, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC)…
The New York Times
Congress Approves First Big Dodd-Frank Rollback
The New York Times cited CEI’s John Berlau on the limitations of current deregulatory reforms in disassembling the Dodd-Frank Act, which burdens consumers, investors, and…
Reason
Congress Just Voted to Repeal a Few Bits of Dodd-Frank
Reason cited John Berlau on the boon to small banks in being able to provide financial relief to Americans that is occuring with deregulation of…
Letters
CEI Leads Coalition Warning Against Punitive Taxation on Credit Unions Consumers
View Full Document as PDF The Honorable Orrin G. Hatch Chairman, U.S. Senate Committee on Finance 219 Dirksen Senate Office Building…
News Release
CEI Commends House Passage of Modest Banking Reforms, Urges Congress to Go Further
Today, the House considered and passed The Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act aimed at scaling back a few bad Dodd-Frank bank regulations. CEI Senior Fellow…
Blog
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Reexamines Anti-Discrimination Enforcement
This week President Trump signed a resolution of disapproval overturning one of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s most controversial regulatory actions—the inappropriate application of…
Blog
Ending Disparate Enforcement at Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
Just last week, Congress voted to overturn one of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s most controversial regulatory actions—a guidance document that was used…
News Release
Report: CFPB Can Fix Fair Lending Laws, Improve Consumer Protection and Access to Credit
A new Competitive Enterprise Institute report urges the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to remedy Obama-era misuse of a 1970s law, the Equal Credit Opportunity Act…
Study
The CFPB and the Equal Credit Opportunity Act
View Full Document as PDF Freedom, equality, and justice are all bedrock principles of the American experiment. Yet it is no secret…
Blog
Cut Red Tape So Middle-Class Investors Can Soar with Next Amazon
Today is the 21st anniversary of the initial public offering of a little company called Amazon. Yes, today Amazon is a behemoth, a supposed…
News Release
House Vote to Stop CFPB Auto Loan Rule Wins CEI Praise
Today, the House of Representatives passed a resolution to stop a Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) rule aimed at curtailing certain auto loan practices.
Blog
Post Office Payday Loans: A Stunningly Bad Idea
Like clockwork, every so often a new member of Congress will rehash an old, tired idea: having the United States Postal Service (USPS) make short-term,…
Blog
Congress Should Axe Backdoor Auto Finance Rule
This week, Congress has a unique opportunity to repeal one of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s worst regulatory actions. Using the Congressional Review Act (CRA),…
Politico
House SNAP Overhaul Could Take a Decade to Implement
Politico cited the Competitive Enterprise Institute on its role in urging upon changing the House farm bill to tackle runaway rates of federally promoted farm…
Washington Times
Leaving the Ultimate Misnomer Behind
Congress has a dwindling number of days left to stop a Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) regulation that will make payday loans difficult for consumers to get.
Blog
How to Encourage Tech Competition: Deregulate Finance
It’s May Day, and in the pages of the New York Times appears a paean to the halcyon days of the 1930s, urging a…
Blog
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Targets True Rights Violations with Wells Fargo Fine
After being attacked repeatedly for supposedly being soft on Wall Street and the “big banks,” Acting Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Mick Mulvaney was part…
News Release
CFPB $1 Billion Fine Against Wells Fargo Shows Regulator Power in Trump Era
On news today that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and the Office of the Comptroller of Currency (OCC) will impose a combined fine of $1…
News Release
Senate Votes Down Unfair CFPB Auto Lending Rule
CEI praised the Senate today for voting down the Obama-era Consumer Financial Protection Bureau rule that unfairly penalized auto lenders for any unintentional disparate impact…
News Release
SEC to Propose Investor Fiduciary Rule
In the wake of a court ruling against a controversial Obama-era Labor Department rule expanding liability for investment advice, the Securities and Exchange Commission today…
Marketplace Radio
AUDIO: John Berlau Discusses Accountability at the CFPB with American Public Media’s Marketplace
John Berlau, Senior Fellow at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, joined American Public Media’s Marketplace, to discuss how the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau can be…
The Wall Street Journal
Cryptocurrency: Does Fed Want to Imitate Venezuela?
John Berlau writes a letter-to-the-editor to The Wall Street Journal about the dangers of the U.S. government issuing its own digital currency. After Kevin Warsh…
The Wall Street Journal
Mick Mulvaney Replies to Elizabeth Warren
Daniel Press writes a letter-to-the-editor to The Wall Street Journal in response to Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s complaints in “Republicans Remain Silent as Mulvaney’s CFPB…
Blog
Acting Director Asks Congress for Reform of Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
On Monday, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau released its first semi-annual report to Congress under its new Acting Director, Mick Mulvaney. A routine procedure…
Blog
Commonwealth Nations Beating America on FinTech Regulation
While the United States continues to have healthy development of financial technologies—thanks predominately to unparalleled access to capital and technology—it is at risk of falling…
Forbes
Let’s Keep Cryptocurrency Mines Running in Human Achievement Hour & Every Hour
On Saturday, March 24th, from 8:30 to 9:30 PM in their local time zones, some people will turn off their lights as part of an…
Fox Business
Dropbox IPO Shows Tech Upstarts Still Have It
The long-awaited initial public offering (IPO) by Dropbox, Inc. was a success, shares soared about 40% in the debut. The pop also tells us a…
Blog
Arizona Becomes First State to Establish FinTech Sandbox
As the only state where all four North American deserts reside, it’s fitting that Arizona became the first state to establish a “sandbox” for financial…
Blog
3 Proposals to Temper the Federal Payday Loan Rule
When the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau finalized a rule regulating payday loans in October last year, I wrote that this could be the end…
Sacramento Bee
Kudlow’s Skills will Keep US Economy Rolling in Fast Lane
Just as baseball season approaches, President Donald Trump hits it out of the park with his appointment of economist Larry Kudlow to head the White…
The Wall Street Journal
Elizabeth Warren’s Boomerang
The Wall Street Journal quotes Iain Murray’s tweet on Elizabeth Warren’s complaints about the CFPB: Like Donald Trump, Ms. Warren might want…
News Release
Court Rules Against Obama Fiduciary Rule in a Victory for Middle Class Investors
On news that the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals late Thursday struck down the Obama Labor Department's controversial fiduciary rule, Competitive Enterprise Institute financial policy…
News Release
CEI Commends Senate for Passing Bipartisan Dodd-Frank Reform Bill
The Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) commends the U.S. Senate on passage of Sen. Crapo's S. 2155, the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief and Consumer Protection Act.
News Release
CEI Commends Trump’s Choice of Larry Kudlow for Top Economic Post
President Trump is expected to name Larry Kudlow as director of the National Economic Council this week. CEI experts commend Trump for selecting an adviser with…
Blog
3 Reasons the Senate Should Pass Financial Reform
The Senate is expected to vote on its first major piece of financial reform this week since the Dodd-Frank Act of 2010. A bipartisan bill…
Blog
The Supreme Court Case That Would Catch the Law Up to Economic Reality
As more and more services move into platform business models as the lower transaction costs they facilitate increase consumer welfare, platform firms need assurance…
Yahoo Finance!
New House Bill Would Kill Consumer Watchdog Payday Loan Rule
Yahoo! Finance cited Daniel Press on the necessity of access for consumers to receive a payday loan. A congressional resolution introduced in the House…
Blog
The Government Killed Free Checking—Can Amazon Save It?
Amazon's move into banking services spells good news for currently under-served consumers, who often rely on relatively expensive financial services such as payday lending or…
News Release
Sen. Crapo’s Dodd-Frank Reform Bill: Important, Commonsense Step Toward Relief for Small Banks
This week, the U.S. Senate is expected to vote on Senator Mike Crapo’s bipartisan Dodd-Frank reform bill, “Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act”…
Blog
If the Payday Lending Rule Stays, Ability-to-Repay Does, Too
Many in the financial services industry seem to believe the CFPB's ability to replay rule doesn’t impact them and it’s not worth fighting. That is…
The Hill
There’s Nothing to Fear About Modest Banking Reform
The United States financial system is in desperate need of reform. The hundreds of new rules and regulations imposed by the Dodd-Frank Act have devastated…
Blog
Government Not Only Source of Regulation for Finance
One of the most misunderstood and underappreciated aspects of free market economics is the idea of private or “self” regulation. Up until recently, private enterprises…
Blog
Implement AEI-Heritage-R Street GSE Plan AND Honor Shareholder Contracts
It is welcome news that our friends from the American Enterprise Institute, Heritage Foundation, and the R Street Institute put forth a plan this week…
Bloomberg Law
House Bid to Ax Payday Rule Kicks Off With Bipartisan Support
Bloomberg Law cited Daniel Press on the leadership expressed by House lawmakers for blocking a law that would impede upon the loan-granting process that would…
The Washington Times
Trump Signs Legislation to Repeal Obama-Era Arbitration Rule
The Washington Times quoted Iain Murray on the need for Congress to disapprove of the CFPB’s egregious rule against small dollar loans. President Trump signed…
The Washington Examiner
CFPB’s ‘NSA-like’ surveillance in limbo with leadership tussle
The Washington Examiner quoted John Berlau in the need for regulatory reform and the need to eliminate the cache of consumer data which the CFPB…
RealClear Policy
Congress, Follow the White House’s Lead on CFPB Reform
Hidden within a single line of a statistical table in President Trump’s 2019 budget is one of the most drastic reform proposals offered up in…
Harper's Magazine
House of Cards
Daniel Press is featured in a letter to the editor of Harpers Magazine: Despite Andrew Cockburn’s assurances in “Swap Meet” [Letter from…
Newsmax
Understand Innovative ‘Blockchain’ Before Condemning It
Since 2018 began, the prices of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies had been tumbling, in large part due to real or perceived threats of crackdowns from…
Valuewalk
Time To End The GSE Conservatorship
When other financial institutions that received TARP funds paid back what they owed to the U.S. Treasury in full, the government relinquished its ownership stake…
National Review
Time to Fix the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
The Trump administration’s proposed budget contains an interesting line item that isn’t mentioned in the summary text. It calls for reductions in spending at the…
RealClearMarkets
Undoing President Obama’s Damage Will Take Time
RealClearMarkets quoted Daniel Press on banking regulations impact on the banking system. Ronald Reagan once said, “No government ever voluntarily reduces itself in…
News Release
House to Vote on Plan to Cut Red Tape for Small, Fast-Growing Companies
The House is expected to vote Wednesday on a plan to help small companies with big ambitions. The Fostering Innovation Act of 2017 (H.R. 1645)…
Blog
CEI Reacts to Trump’s FY19 Budget Proposals for CFPB, EPA, and Regulatory Reform
CEI experts react to provisions in President Trump’s fiscal year 2019 budget proposal released on February 12, 2018.
News Release
Trump Budget Seeks More Accountability for Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
President Trump’s 2019 budget plan, released today, has some big changes in mind for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), aiming to bring much-needed accountability and…
Blog
SEC Chairman Jay Clayton’s Comments on Cryptocurrencies Are Cause for Concern
Recent comments by SEC Chairman Jay Claytonmay signal an increasingly heavy-handed regulatory approach toward cryptocurrencies. Such an approach could curb innovation and prove counterproductive in fighting…
Newsmax
Stop Stealth Capital Gains Tax Hike in Senate Bill
It’s crunch time on tax reform. The House passed a bill just before Thanksgiving. Now it’s the Senate’s turn. A good tax reform bill would…
The Hill
Why are we still regulating Main Street like Wall Street?
It’s no secret that banks across America aren’t doing well under the Dodd-Frank Act, Congress’s response to the 2008 financial crisis. Since Dodd-Frank’s enactment in…
Compliance Week
Coalition Urges Congress to Halt CFPB Rule on ‘Payday’ Loans
Compliance Week covers CEI’s coalition letter urging Congress to stop the CFPB’s payday-loan rule. On Feb. 6, 23 free market groups led by the…
News Release
CEI Coalition Urges Congress to Stop CFPB Rule Curtailing Short-Term Consumer Loans
Today, 23 free market groups led by the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) sent a letter to Congress asking lawmakers to stop the Consumer Financial…
Blog
The Myth of Independence at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
The myth of Consumer Financial Protection Bureau independence invalidates the Bureau’s protection from the President and Congress. The extreme insulation is predicated on protecting the…
Letters
CEI Leads Coalition Letter Supporting Resolution Providing Congressional Disapproval of CFPB
View Full Document as PDF Dear Member of Congress: The undersigned organizations write in strong support of a resolution introduced in the…
Blog
SEC Should Investigate California Municipalities for Climate-Related Securities Fraud
It appears a variety of California municipalities have gotten themselves in hot water. To investors of their bonds, they have claimed that they are unable…
Reason
CFPB Is Constitutional, Court Rules, in Victory for Unaccountable Bureaucrats Everywhere
Reason discusses the ruling in PHH Corp. v. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau with Iain Murray. The structure of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) was…
News Release
Court Ruling on Constitutionality of CFPB Keeps Bureaucrats Unaccountable
Today, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit issued a disappointing ruling on the constitutionality of the controversial Consumer Financial Protection…
Letters
CEI Joins Coalition Letter Urging Congress Not to Interfere With SEC Rulemaking on Paperless Delivery of Mutual Fund Reports
View Full Document as PDF Dear Chairmen: On behalf of the undersigned organizations, we write to urge opposition to any effort to…
Blog
Mulvaney Saving, Not ‘Dismantling,’ Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
Effective consumer protection does not require a body as unaccountable, powerful, and ideologically driven as the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. In short, it does not…
Blog
Trump Should Boost Bipartisan Access-to-Capital Bill in SOTU
If President Trump really wants to strike a note of bipartisanship in his State of the Union address, as well as promote measures to build…
U.S. News & World Report
Cutting Off Consumers
A new regulation will burden low- and middle-income Americans reliant on payday loans. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau just released a new rule against payday…
Las Vegas
Think Tank Releasing Report On New Jersey Challenge To Sports Betting Act
Las Vegas Review-Journal quotes Michelle Minton the impact on consumer freedom which a federal sports gambling known as PASPA poses. When the U.S.
The Hill
Congress Must Use Its Tools to Block Consumer Bureau’s Payday Loan Rule
Big things are happening at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, a recently-created but unusually powerful government agency. Now temporarily headed by Trump’s Director of the Office…
Blog
7 Congressional Efforts the President Should Urge Members to Support
President Trump should use his State of the Union address to encourage members of Congress to pass these 7 bills immediately.
Bloomberg
Business Groups Attack ‘America First’ Merger Review Bill
RealClear Politics
It’s Time for Trump to Kill the Regulatory Swamp Monsters
RealClear Politics discusses the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s impact on financial regulation referencing CEI.
Blog
The State of Financial Regulation
President Trump will deliver his inaugural State of the Union address next week, where he will outline the administration’s agenda for the coming year. Here…
Blog
A New Day at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
According to Acting Director Mick Mulvaney, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau will now stick to enforcing consumer protection laws as written, but not attempt go beyond that…
Blog
Durbin Amendment Update: No More Free Checking for the Poor
The Durbin Amendment strikes again. Today brings further evidence that the little-known amendment authored by Sen. Richard Durbin (D-IL), which imposed price controls on…
Blog
Tax Reform Outperforms Government Programs on Community Investment
Tax reform is the gift that keeps on giving. Americans for Tax Reform has documented the ever-growing list of companies providing pay raises, bonuses, 401(k)…
Blog
Increasing Public Awareness Bolsters Potential for Blockchain Applications
Blockchain is a software architecture that seems very likely to unleash profound global forces if it crosses over into the mainstream.
JD Supra
Overturning the CFPB’s Final Payday Loan Rule by Reopening Rulemaking or CRA Resolution
JD Supra covers developments of the CFPB’s payday loan rule and Daniel Press’ “7 Reasons to Oppose the Federal Payday Loan Rule.” On December 1, 2018,…
Blog
Payday Loan Options Serve Consumers Well
Congress should use the Congressional Review Act to dismantle the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s payday loan rule.