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
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Issues & Insights
Want Higher Air Fares? Overregulate Credit Cards
Yesterday, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the Department of Transportation held a joint hearing “investigating” airline and credit card reward programs. The Director and Secretary of…
Money
How Much Are Airline Rewards Really Worth? Biden Admin Probes Credit Card Programs
CEI’s Iain Murray’s blog posting was cited in Money about vacation miles: Iain Murray, vice president for strategy at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, wrote in…
Blog
Want higher air fares? Overregulate credit cards
This morning, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the Department of Transportation are holding a joint hearing “investigating” airline and credit card reward programs.
Search Posts
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…