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
CFPB Unfairly Targets Zelle
As part of a last-gasp effort by the Biden administration to punish legal businesses it disapproves of, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has sued…
Yahoo Finance
Consumer protection agency closes the Biden era taking big swings
Yahoo Finance cited CEI’s financial expert on bad regulations “I can’t speak to the merits of every lawsuit, they’re filing them so fast,” said…
Blog
Google case just the beginning of CFPB fintech power grab
There has been a bullseye on the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ever since tech entrepreneur and venture capitalist Marc Andreessen called the agency out…
Search Posts
Letters
CEI Joins Coalition Letter on SEC Decision RE Consolidated Audit Trail Database
Dear Chairman Clayton, We, the undersigned organizations, write today to express our grave concerns with the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) decision to require broker-dealers…
The Daily Caller
BARR: The Fed Overreaches With Real-Time Payment Systems
The Daily Caller cites CEI on the 1980 Monetary Control Act. As the Competitive Enterprise Institute has pointed out, the 1980 Monetary Control…
Foreign Policy
Bid to Revive Export-Import Bank Runs Aground
Foreign Policy cites Senior Fellow Ryan Young on the Ex-Im bank: “It’s the ‘they do it, too’ fallacy,” said Ryan Young of the…
Blog
White House Blocks Most Green Energy Tax Credits in Final Spending Bill
The spending packages to fund the federal government through the end of the 2020 fiscal year ending on October 1st, which were passed by the…
Blog
Congress Racing To Extend and Expand Electric Vehicle, Wind, and Solar Tax Credits
It would be comforting to think that the House’s impeachment proceedings have so poisoned relations between Democrats and Republicans that the Congress won’t be able…
Blog
Don’t Just “Modernize” Community Reinvestment Act, Repeal It
On Thursday, financial regulators released a long-awaited reform proposal which would make substantial changes to the implementation and enforcement of the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA).
Letters
CEI Joins Coalition Letter to House Republicans on NFIP Rates
Dear Minority Leader McCarthy, Minority Whip Scalise, and Ranking Member McHenry: Our organizations write in response to the recent letter from 64 members to…
Daily Caller
Sarbanes-Oxley is Hampering Investment—Look For Trump’s SEC to Fix It
“In the risk reform debate, as in so many political debates, logic is often for losers.” So lamented Competitive Enterprise Institute founder and president emeritus Fred L.
Blog
Wind and Solar Tax Credits: Special Interest Subsidies
The House Ways and Means Committee on November 19th released a draft of its “Growing Renewable Energy and Efficiency Now (GREEN) Act” (summary). The sponsors propose to extend,…
Blog
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Should End Frivolous Student Loan Lawsuit
The efforts of Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) Director Kathy Kraninger have gone a long way in reversing egregious Obama-era actions that plagued the agency,…
The Washington Times
Congress Can Fix Legal Marijuana Business Banking Problem
Violent and property crime rates have decreased over the past 25 years, so it’s telling that instances of robbery or burglary against one sort of…
News Release
CEI Opposes Waters Ex-Im Bank Reauthorization Bill
The Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) opposes a bill authored by Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) that would reauthorize Export-Import Bank (Ex-Im Bank) operations. The bill is…
NewsMax
CFPB’s Kraninger Catching Flak—and Hitting Her Targets
An anonymous World War II bomber pilot may be the source of the saying, “If you’re not catching flak, you’re not hitting your target.” But today, the…
Blog
Export-Import Bank Reauthorization Update
It is busy a time right now in the Export-Import Bank reauthorization battle. Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) introduced a new bill to reauthorize the Export-Import…
Blog
Celebrate Consumer Finance Law Modernization
Earlier this month, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced that it will create a taskforce to “harmonize and modernize federal consumer financial laws.” The Taskforce…
Blog
In Praise of Pro-Consumer Tenure of Finance Regulator Kraninger
As she prepares to give her semi-annual testimony to Congress this week—on Wednesday to the House Financial Services Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and on Thursday…
Letters
CEI Joins Coalition Letter in Support of the Secure and Fair Enforcement Banking Act of 2019
We are heartened by the committee’s decision to host a hearing on challenges to cannabis banking. In particular, we have the hearing brings attention to…
Blog
Like Socialism, Financial Transaction Tax Doomed to Fail
In The Wealth of Nations, Adam Smith coins the four maxims of taxation: fairness, certainty, convenience, and efficiency. Smith’s maxims are used as a litmus…
Blog
Feds: Gambling Fine, But Investing Too Risky
“In the risk reform debate, as in so many political debates, logic is often for losers.” So lamented Competitive Enterprise Institute founder and president emeritus…
Blog
Protect Consumers, But Let Debt Collectors Do Their Jobs
Debt collector seem to be the occupation everyone loves to hate, but without them businesses large and small—from banks to gyms to doctor’s offices—could not serve…
Blog
Ex-Im Bank Reauthorization: Lesson in Institutional Design
For all its flaws, the Export-Import Bank’s charter gets an important thing right: the agency must be reauthorized every few years, or it will close.
Comment
CEI Comments Before the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection on Proposed Rule on Debt Collection Practices
Thanks to the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection’s extension of its deadline to comment on the proposed rule on debt collection practices, we take this…
Blog
Export-Import Bank Fight Not Over Yet
The Export-Import Bank’s charter is currently set to expire on September 30. If authorization lapses, the agency will shut down. On Thursday, the House passed…
Blog
Ex-Im Bank Reauthorization: Major Victory against Cronyism, Despite Setback
Nobel laureate economist Ronald Coase wrote in his 1975 essay “Economists and Public Policy” that “An economist who, by his efforts, is able to postpone…
Blog
Reform Proposal Addresses Cronyism in Government-Backed Mortgages
Earlier this year, the Trump administration issued an executive memorandum directing the Department of the Treasury to “develop a plan for administrative and legislative reforms” of…
Blog
Study on Export-Import Bank: Repeal Is Best, Other Reforms Can Help
The Export-Import Bank is up for reauthorization by September 30. It should be shut down, as I’ve pointed out before, but reauthorization will almost certainly…
Study
How the Ex-Im Bank Enables Cronyism and Wastes Taxpayer Money
The U.S. Export-Import Bank (Ex-Im) is a federal agency that seeks to boost exports by private U.S. businesses. It pursues its mission through loan guarantees,…
Blog
Welfare for Billionaires: Stadium Subsidies Are Pure Cronyism
Our old friend (and former Competitive Enterprise Institute journalism fellow) Tim Carney is doing excellent work at the American Enterprise Institute these days, where he…
News Release
GSE Reform Proposal a Positive Step Towards Reducing Government Role in Housing Finance
The Treasury Department today released a proposal aimed at reforming Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, both Government Sponsored Entities or "GSEs." According to the proposal,…
Blog
Marijuana Industry Bank Reform on Capitol Hill Agenda
While the continued legalization of recreational and medicinal use of marijuana at the state level has undoubtedly been a win for liberty, there remains much…
Blog
Debt Collectors Keep Credit Market Flowing
Debt collecting is a profession that gets little love, but given the social good done by debt collectors who operate ethically and follow the rules,…
Comment
CEI Comments on CFPB Proposed Rule on Debt Collection Practice
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”…
The Washington Times
Trump’s Tariff Delay on China Eases Christmas Worries, Sends Markets Higher
The Washington Times cites Senior Fellow Ryan Young on tariffs: Ryan Young, a senior fellow at the free market Competitive Enterprise Institute, said…
The Kevin Miller Show
Kevin Miller 6am 080819
CEI President and CEO Kent Lassman joined the Kevin Miller Show to discuss the state of the economy.
News Release
Federal Reserve’s FedNow Payments Processing System Illegal and Misguided
The Federal Reserve today announced plans to set up a payment processing system called “FedNow.”…
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…
Blog
VIDEO: Financial Services for Everyone
Our friends at the Cato Institute recently hosted an excellent discussion on financial opportunity and inclusion titled “How Credit Is Reaching Underserved Communities,” featuring an…
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…
Newsmax
Volcker Rule Burdens Banks, Markets
Newsmax cites a recent coalition letter signed by CEI opposing the Volcker Rule. That legislative ban would seem to apply here, because as…
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…
Yahoo Finance
Federal Agencies Kill Big Banks’ Hopes of Escaping Volcker Rule
Yahoo Finance cites CEI on restrictions on proprietary trading. The Competitive Enterprise Institute, a libertarian think tank in Washington, wrote to the five…
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,…
Letters
CEI Joins Coalition Letter to Oppose Federal Reserve’s Real-Time Gross Settlement System
We write to express strong opposition to the Federal Reserve’s consideration to operate a Real-Time Gross Settlement system and urge the Federal Reserve to reevaluate…
Blog
Commonsense New Debt Collection Rule from Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) was passed in 1977, over forty years ago, at a time when telecommunication technology was in its infancy…
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…
Marketplace
Facebook’s New Cryptocurrency Prompts Regulation Concerns
Marketplace cites CEI’s Research Fellow Patrick Hedger on Facebook’s new cryptocurrency. Patrick Hedger, a research fellow with the Competitive Enterprise Institute, said the Libra…
