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
Reason
Fight Government Corruption With Deregulation
Reason cited CEI’s expert on regulatory budgets “When regulatory systems become dense, opaque, and discretionary, they create perverse incentives for corruption,” Steve Swedberg, a regulatory…
The Washington Examiner
Credit card companies are easy to vilify, but the wrong target for consumer ire
The Washington Examiner cited CEI’s expert on financial policy. John Berlau, a senior fellow at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, said entrepreneurs turned to credit…
Blog
Cut the steel, cut the cost: Why Congress is right to scrap the chassis mandate
If buying a home in the US feels more expensive, that is not merely your imagination. A Harvard University study found that national single-family home…
Search Posts
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.
The Washington Times
White House Urged to Kill Obama-era Payday Lending Rule
The Washington Times covers CEI’s letter sent to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) regarding the payday-lending rule. A free-market group is urging…
Breitbart
Potential Nomination of McWatters to Head Up the CFPB Hits a Rough Patch
Breitbart discusses possible Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) nominee Mark McWatters with John Berlau. The potential nomination of National Credit Union Adminstration Chairman (NCUA)…
The National Law Review
Overturning the CFPB’s Final Payday Loan Rule by Reopening Rulemaking or CRA Resolution
The National Law Review discusses the various vehicles that could be used to repeal the CFPB’s small-dollar loan rule. On December 1, 2018, three…
News Release
House Financial Reform Plans Show Lawmakers Recognize Problems Caused by CFPB
This week, the House Financial Services Committee approved 15 bills on regulatory relief for community financial institutions, investment opportunities, access to financing for home buyers,…
News Release
CFPB Rule Against Small Dollar Loans Flunks Legal Requirement, CEI Informs Regulators
The Competitive Enterprise Institute released a letter sent to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) on January 11, 2018 asking…
Blog
The White House Can Save the Small-Dollar Loan Industry
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's small dollar loan rule should be retracted on Paperwork Reduction Act violations alone. …
USA Today
Federal Payday Lending Rule Could Face Repeal Amid New Battle
USA Today covers the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s decision to delay the small-dollar loan rule. Consumer advocates and business groups are battling anew over…
American Banker
Not So Fast: CFPB Effort to Reopen Payday Rule Faces Hurdles
American Banker covers the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s decision to delay the small-dollar loan rule. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau faces significant obstacles in…
The Hill
New CFPB Director Puts Target on Payday Loan Rules
The Hill covers the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s decision to delay the small-dollar loan rule. The new leaders of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau…
Blog
Taming the Beast: Reform Ideas for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s complicated, one-size-fits-all rules with high compliance costs favor large banks with armies of lawyers while restricting the working poor’s access…
Comment
CEI Letter to OMB Requesting Rejection of CFPB “Payday Lending” Rule
View Full Document as PDF Dear Ms. Rao: The Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) hereby requests that OMB reject the information collection…
Blog
7 Reasons to Oppose the Federal Payday Loan Rule
Congress should use the Congressional Review Act to overturn the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's small dollar loan rule.
News Release
Report: Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s Payday Loan Rule Hurts the Working Poor
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s rule against small dollar loans will hurt the working poor most, warns a new report from the Competitive Enterprise Institute.
Study
How the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s Payday Loan Rule Hurts the Working Poor
View Full Document as PDF Ariane is a 22-year-old single mother from Oakland, California. Working a low-wage job, she gets by paycheck…
Fox Business
Minimum Wage Hikes Sending Restaurants the Way of the Shopping Mall?
Fox Business discusses minimum wage hikes with Iain Murray. Eighteen states raised their minimum wages at the start of 2018, but increasing labor…
The New York Times
Blockchain or Blockheads? Bitcoin Mania Mints Believers and Skeptics
John Schwartz, writing for The New York Times, discusses Bitcoin with Jim Harper. Sometimes life shows you what absurd really…
Investor's Business Daily
Clipping The Corrupt CFPB’s Wings
Investor’s Business Daily covers the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s slush fund. We’ve been clear where we stand with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the…
The Washington Examiner
Trump Budget Chief Shuts Down Consumer ‘Protection’ Bureau ‘Slush Fund’
The Washington Examiner covers the review of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s ‘slush fund.’ An educational “slush fund” used by the Consumer Financial Protection…
Fox Business
Red Robin Eliminates Bus Boys as Restaurants Combat Minimum Wage Hikes
Fox Business discusses minimum wage hikes with Iain Murray. At the beginning of January, minimum wage increases took effect in 18 states and…
One America News
VIDEO: John Berlau Discusses CFPB Slush Fund on One America News
One America News discusses Mick Mulvaney’s attempts to stop the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s slush fund with John Berlau. Watch the full…
JD Supra
The IRS Succeeds in Compelling Crypto Exchange to Disclose User Information
JD Supra covers an amicus brief by CEI in Coinbase v. United States. As the price of bitcoin leaps and lurches toward new highs,…
Bloomberg Politics
Bitcoin Falls Into Gray Area of Disclosure Rules for Congress
Bloomberg Politics discusses Bitcoin with Jim Harper. To guard against insider trading and financial conflicts, members of Congress and federal officials must file regular…
The Washington Post
Bitcoin Got a Big Boost in 2017. Here are 5 Other Cryptocurrencies to Watch in 2018.
The Washington Post discusses cryptocurrencies with Jim Harper. Mainstream investors spent much of last year trying to figure out how to jump in on …
Blog
Bitcoin’s Wonderful, Awful Year
Will Bitcoin’s social capital grow to justify the current high price?…
News Release
CEI Congratulates Hester Peirce
Competitive Enterprise Institute President Kent Lassman congratulated Hester Peirce on her confirmation to the Securities and Exchange Commission: “Hester Peirce understands the real…
Blog
The Top Five Reforms in Financial Regulation Needed in 2018
With the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau at last pulling back from its regulatory assault on the financial services industry, conditions are right for major…
Reason
The Senate’s Rejection of Export-Import Bank Critic Shows How Entrenched Crony Capitalism Is in Washington
Reason covers the rejection of Export-Import bank nominee Scott Garrett. The Senate Banking Committee voted 10–13 yesterday to reject former New Jersey Rep. Scott Garrett…
Blog
House Takes Lead on Bank Reform, Senate Should Follow
The House of Representatives has passed a significant piece of financial legislation, H.R. 3312, the “Systemic Risk Designation Improvement Act.”…
Blog
Ex-Im Nominee Scott Garrett Rejected, Swamp Claims Another Victim
Appointing Scott Garret to lead the Export-Import Bank should have been an area of broad agreement between the parties.
Blog
Digital Finance Pioneers Using Bitcoin for Savings, Payments,…and Donations
Your support for the Competitive Enterprise Institute, given in Bitcoin or dollars, can help us strengthen the hand of the businesses that offer a revolution…
News Release
CEI Supports HR 3312’s Efforts to Restore Main Street Banks
Competitive Enterprise Institute Policy Analyst Daniel Press offered the following statement on the proposed H.R. 3312, the Systemic Risk Designation Improvement Act: “Subjecting…
Blog
A Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Slush Fund?
While there are many reasons to criticize the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), it being assigned to enforce the nation’s financial consumer protection laws…
Intercollegiate Studies Institute
What Should Direct Our Economy: The Invisible Hand or the Iron Fist?
You probably heard: a recent poll found that nearly half of American millennials would rather live under socialism than capitalism. To anyone old enough to remember…
CoinDesk
Victory Lap? 2017 Was Bitcoin’s Backwards Year
2017 was another gloriously miserable year for bitcoin. As in 2016, gains in the price of bitcoin belie deep deficits in the cryptocurrency world.
JD Supra
U.S. v. Coinbase: Virtual Currency Holders Not Outside the IRS’s Reach
JD Supra covers U.S. v. Coinbase and CEI’s amicus brief in the case. The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, on…
Blog
End CFPB’s Collection of Americans’ Financial Data
Last week, when the drama of the dueling directors began at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), I told The Washington Examiner that the…
Blog
Economics Will Be Our Ruination, Bitcoin Edition—and Some Notes on Securing Your Cryptocurrency
Asked about Bitcoin last week, economics Nobel laureate and Columbia University professor Joseph Stiglitz said, among other gems, “It ought to be outlawed. It…
Bloomberg BNA
House Bid to Ax Payday Rule Kicks Off With Bipartisan Support
Bloomberg BNA covers introduced legislation that would block the CFPB’s payday lending rule. A House resolution to repeal the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s small-dollar…
CNBC
New House Bill Would Kill Consumer Watchdog Payday Loan Rule
CNBC covers the blockage of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s payday loan rule. Congress has it in for consumer protections enacted by the Consumer Financial…
Blog
Back to Basics after Bitcoin’s Wild Rise
The alternate currency known as Bitcoin has had a wild week, and its dramatic rise in value has meant that many Americans are hearing and…
News Release
House Democrats and Republicans Lead Crucial Effort to Stop Unfair CFPB Payday Loan Rule
A group of House Republicans and Democrats today introduced legislation under the Congressional Review Act (CRA) to block a controversial new rule issued by the…
Blog
Big Changes Needed to Senate’s Financial Reform Bill
While the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief and Consumer Protection Act is a good first step, Republicans must push for more dramatic reform.
Blog
Case of Mortgage Lender PHH Corp. Highlights CFPB’s Unconstitutional Abuses
The facts of PHH Corporation v. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau stand as a sharp example of the agency's ability to abuse its enormous power.
Blog
Court Orders Coinbase to Turn over Cryptocurrency User Data to IRS
Congress should revisit the law to protect privacy and due process in IRS investigations.
Consumer Reports
You Still Can’t Sue Your Bank. So What Can You Do?
Consumer Reports covers the repeal of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s anti-arbitration rule. The Senate’s recent vote to let forced-arbitration language …
Blog
Overturn CFPB’s Payday Loan Rule to Protect Vulnerable Consumers
Members of Congress must demonstrate the courage to stand up for consumers and against the rogue agency.
The Washington Times
Judge Rules in Favor of Trump in Battle over CFPB Leadership
The Washington Times covers the ruling in the fued over leadership of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. A federal court rejected efforts by anti-…
News Release
Report: Dodd-Frank Volcker Rule Punishes Main Street
Banking restrictions imposed by the 2010 Dodd-Frank financial reform law have caused big problems for banks nationwide, a new report from the Competitive Enterprise Institute…
Study
The Case against the Volcker Rule
View Full Document as PDF The 2010 Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act has severely restricted business and consumer access…
Blog
What Should Congress Do About the Volcker Rule?
The Volcker Rule is a Dodd-Frank regulation that prohibits federally insured banks from engaging in “proprietary trading,” which is trading with their own capital. It…
Blog
Senate Bill’s Stealth FIFO Capital Gains Hike Hinders Tax Reform
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 Washington Examiner
CFPB’s ‘NSA-Like’ Surveillance in Limbo with Leadership Tussle
The Washington Examiner discusses Mick Mulvaney’s appointment as acting director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau with John Berlau. The fight for control of…
Breitbart
CFPB Acting Director Mick Mulvaney Orders 30-Day Hiring, Regulatory Freeze
Breitbart covers Consumer Financial Protection Bureau acting director Mick Mulvaney’s hiring and regulatory freeze. Mulvaney declared that President Trump “wants me…
Fox Business
Trump’s CFPB Won’t Be Obama’s: Key Ways It Could Be Different
Fox Business discusses Mick Mulvaney’s appointment as acting director of the Consumer Financiual Protection Bureau with Iain Murray. As the battle wages on over…
The New York Post
Banks Remain Quiet on Mulvaney CFPB Appointment
The New York Post discusses Mick Mulvaney’s appointment to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau with Iain Murray. While Washington was buzzing on Monday over…
Blog
Under New Leadership, What is the Future of the CFPB’s Payday Loan Rule?
In the current uncertainty surrounding the future of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), several issues require urgent attention. While the most pressing may…
News Release
Judge Sides with Trump in Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Fight
Upon news that a federal judge this afternoon ruled against a bureaucrat who claimed that she, not President Trump’s appointee Mick Mulvaney, is the lawful director of the…
Blog
Acting CFPB Director Mulvaney’s Bipartisan FinTech Work
Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney has long broken bread with folks he disagrees with to find common ground on policy.
The Washington Times
Protecting Consumers from Fraud and Abuse
Following Richard Cordray’s resignation as director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), the smart money is betting that President Trump will appoint Mick Mulvaney, head…
Blog
Federal Office of Financial Research Violates Privacy, Produces Little of Value
The American people would be better off without it.
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 2010,…
Blog
Good Riddance to Finance Regulator Richard Cordray
The resignation of Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Richard Cordray is long overdue.
News Release
Video: Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Doesn’t Protect Consumers, It Harms Them
Today, the Competitive Enterprise Institute released a video that outlines how the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) actually harms consumers rather than “protects” them.
News Release
CEI Urges Swift Action on CFPB Problems as Director Richard Cordray Resigns
The CFPB under Cordray’s tenure has failed consumers.
Blog
Tear Down the Wall Between Banking and Commerce
The separation of commerce and banking has little relevance in the 21st century.
