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
Cato Institute
The Fate of ‘Never Needed’ Regulations
Parking lots and parking garages have served for decades as venues for clandestine meetings in the movies and often in reality. In the early 1970s,…
News Release
House poised to end Biden-era CFPB overdraft rule: CEI statement
The House is expected today to vote on a Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolution overturning a Biden era Consumer Financial Protection Bureau rule to cap…
Issues & Insights
Reviving Community Banking By Lifting Barriers To New Banks
Americans have far fewer banks to choose from than they once did. The American banking industry has consolidated, with the number of U.S. banks falling…
Search Posts
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.
Blog
Fed Confirms Government Regulation Is Not the Answer to Equifax Data Breach
More regulation will not help protect the financial system against cyber attacks, such as the Equifax hack.
Blog
Property Rights of Fannie and Freddie Shareholders—Including Small Investors—Must Be Respected
Private investors should never be guaranteed any type of government bailout. At the same time, they should not have their property and contract rights violated.
News Release
Report: Taxpayers in Danger of Massive Mortgage Bailout
Looming problems mean taxpayers are unfairly on the hook for yet another 2008-style mortgage bailout.
Study
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac Still Endanger U.S. Economy
View Full Document as PDF Nearly a decade since the housing bust of 2008 sent the U.S. economy into a tailspin, much…
RealClear Markets
Undoing President Obama’s Damage Will Take Time
RealClear Markets covers the Systemic Risk Designation Improvement Act of 2017. Indeed, another reason to oppose new government undertakings is that each creates groups…
The Washington Times
Trump Signs Legislation to Repeal Obama-era Arbitration Rule
The Washington Times discusses the repeal of the anti-arbitration rule with Iain Murray. President Trump signed legislation Wednesday afternoon repealing the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s…
The Washington Examiner
Payday-Loan Borrowers Need Protection from the Poorly-Named Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
In an epic, down to the wire vote last week Congressional Republicans narrowly overturned a regulation that would have enriched lawyers at the expense of…
News Release
CEI Praises President, Congress for Stopping CFPB Arbitration Rule
Today, President Trump is expected to sign a congressional resolution of disapproval against a Consumer Financial Protection Bureau rule curtailing binding arbitration, a common form…
News Release
Competitive Enterprise Institute Praises Trump SEC Nominee, Hester Peirce
The Senate Banking Committee today voted unanimously to confirm two of President Trump’s nominees to fill vacant posts on the powerful Securities and Exchange Commission.
Blog
A ‘Personal Appeal’ to President Trump to Fire CFPB’s Cordray
Yesterday, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Richard Cordray released a letter to President Donald Trump urging him to veto Congress’ recent anti-arbitration rule resolution.
Blog
Ghouls and Goblins and Guidances
You could consider CEI to be the Ghostbusters of Washington, fighting back ghouls and goblins on both sides of Pennsylvania Avenue.
Real Clear Politics
It’s Time for Trump to Kill the Regulatory Swamp Monsters
In Real Clear Politics, Steve Forbes cites CEI’s “The Case against the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.” President Trump has successfully taken a chainsaw to some…
