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
Forbes
CFPB Anti-Arbitration Rule Will Harm Consumers and FinTech
"Gotcha!" That’s what the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) claims binding arbitration clauses in consumer finance contracts often amount to. In these clauses, consumers agree…
Comment
Comments to the CFPB on Barring Arbitration Agreements
View Document as PDF On behalf of the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI), we are pleased to provide the following comments on the…
News Release
CEI Opposes Regulator Limits on Arbitration Option for Financial Products
The Competitive Enterprise Institute on Monday submitted public comments with the federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) opposing a proposed rule to limit the option…
Blog
RealClear Radio Hour: Taxpayers on the Hook
This week on RealClear Radio Hour, Michael Tanner tallies Uncle Sam’s ballooning entitlement debt and Romina Boccia pulls back the cover on the Beltway crony…
Blog
Tepid Economic Performance Argues for Cutting Government Red Tape
How is the economy doing? It’s a mixed picture.
Blog
Elon Musk Angry at Having to Compete for Taxpayer Handouts
“Rent seeking” occurs when companies secure government benefits for actions that do not otherwise create wealth.
Blog
Financial Transaction Tax Would Hit Main Street, Not Just Wall Street
When progressives were defending the Department of Labor’s fiduciary rule governing retirement accounts, they constantly praised the regulation for encouraging investment in low-cost index funds.
Blog
Challenging the Constitutionality of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
Our constitutional challenge to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is once again on hold, but this time the delay may be relatively short.
Digital Journal
Dawn J. Bennett, Host of Financial Myth Busting, Interviews John Berlau, Economist
Financial Adviser Dawn Bennett interview John Berlau on the Securities Exchange Commission's in-house court. BENNETT: John Berlau is a senior fellow at the…
Blog
A Disappointing Bipartisan Agreement on Banking Regulation
Last night at the Democratic National Convention, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) gave a speech covering a number of controversial campaign issues, focusing in particular on…
Forbes
How Glass-Steagall’s Return Would Shatter America’s Hometown Banks
Set against the Main Street backdrop of Cleveland, the drafters of the Republican convention platform pledged support for a banking rule signed into law by…
Bloomberg
Trump’s VP Wears His Opposition to 2008 Bank Bailouts With Pride
Bloomberg discusses the GOP platform's support of reinstating the Glass-Steagall Act with John Berlau. In addition to scaling back Dodd-Frank — which Republicans…
National Review
GOP Platform Contains Serious Mistake on Banking
One of these things is not like the other. In the generally good section of the GOP’s Platform entitled Regulation: The Quiet Tyranny (p.27-28), there…
News Release
Partial Ruling in Dodd Frank Case Confirms that Cordray 2012 Appointment was Illegal
Yesterday, the U.S. District Court of the District of Columbia confirmed that Richard Cordray’s 2012 recess appointment to head the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau was…
Blog
‘Crexit’ Votes Will Help U.S. Entrepreneurs and Investors
In yet another blow against the Brexit chicken littles, not only have the large British companies comprising the FTSE 100 gained back all the losses…
Crowdfund Insider
The Fix Crowdfunding Act Passes House & Heads to the Senate
Crowdfund Insider discusses bills to expand the JOBS Act with John Berlau. John Berlau, a Senior Fellow at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, described…
Blog
Investors Got into Fiduciary Rule Conversation Months before John Oliver Joined in
“Fiduciary Rule Goes Prime Time,” reads the headline of a recent cover story of the magazine Investment News. The story argues that after political comic…
Forbes
If ‘Fiduciary Rule’ Goes Through, the Joke Is On American Savers
John Oliver’s viewers may think of themselves as the smart set, but the popular TV comic recently suggested that he rather deems them dim bulbs…
Blog
Interchange Debate Rears Its Head in Canada
The debate over the effects of interchange fees (the charges a bank levies on a merchant when one its customers uses a credit or debit…
Blog
Why Shouldn’t the Energy Department Run the Entire Economy?
New Energy Department standards for dehumidifiers promise massive benefits. Depending on which set of numbers you prefer (the link goes to the Energy Department’s own…
Blog
CEI Support for Rep. McHenry’s “Fix Crowdfunding Act”
Today, the House Financial Services Committee will likely be voting on Rep. Patrick McHenry’s Fix Crowdfunding Act, a much-needed expansion of the bipartisan Jumpstart Our…
Forbes
Improve Access to Capital & Access to Wealth Creation With More Crowdfunding Deregulation
In this hyper-partisan era, the one thing Republicans and Democrats seem to agree on is the need to enable entrepreneurs and small businesses to gain…
Blog
Export-Import Bank Drama Continues
The Senate’s main business right now is the annual Defense Appropriations bill. The Export-Import Bank, or Ex-Im for short, might become part of that bill.
Blog
House Plan to Replace Dodd-Frank Provides Long-Needed Alternative
On Wednesday, House Financial Services Committee Chairman Jeb Hensarling announced the main features of his comprehensive plan to replace Dodd-Frank, the flawed response to the…
The Heartland Institute
Congress Votes to Block New Broker Regulations
The Heartland Institute discusses the fiduciary rule with Senior Fellow John Berlau. John Berlau, a senior fellow at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, says…
Politico
Payday Lending Rule Fly-Around
Politico's Morning Money features John Berlau's statement on the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's new payday lending rule. CEI’s John Berlau: “The CFPB's rule…
Watchdog.org
Get ready for Obamaloans: New regs could drive payday lenders out of business
Watchdog.org discusses the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's plan to crackdown on payday lending with Iain Murray. Iain Murray, a vice president at the…
News Release
CEI Expert Warns: CFPB Payday Lending Rule Will Hurt the Poor
The CFPB is expected to propose a new rule on June 2 restricting so-called payday lending. CEI financial policy expert John Berlau warns that new…
National Review
“Income Inequality” – Missing the Point
President Obama, Paul Krugman tells us, has declared war on income inequality. In fact, income inequality is at the root of just about everything…
Legal NewsLine
U.S. Senate passes resolution to block DOL’s fiduciary rule
Legal NewsLine discusses Congress's resolution of disapproval blocking the Department of Labor's fiduciary rule with John Berlau. John Berlau, a financial policy expert at…
News Release
CEI Finance Policy Expert Supports Senate’s Vote to Block Fiduciary Rule
Today, the Senate voted against the Labor Department's fiduciary rule by approving the House-passed resolution of disapproval, under Congressional Review Act auspices. CEI financial policy expert…
Blog
CFPB Moves to Cut Off Any Loans to People with Bad Credit
According to the federal government, people may have to live on the streets, but at least they aren’t being “exploited” by companies who are willing…
Daily Caller
Revolving Door Swings As Feds Take Posh Jobs At Big Banks
The Daily Caller discusses the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau with John Berlau. John Berlau, a senior fellow at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, a…
Blog
Crowdfunding Rules: Four Years Late and Millions Short
Today, Monday, May 16, more than four years and one month after Congress passed and President Obama signed the Jumpstart Our Business Startups (JOBS) Act…
Watchdog.org
Lending influence: Progressive group profits from pushing financial regs
Watchdog.org discusses new regulations from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau with John Berlau. One of the chief advocates of the CFPB’s regulatory actions…
Newsmax
Let’s Fix Crowdfunding so Middle-Class Investors Can Profit
More than four years and one month after Congress passed and President Barack Obama signed the Jumpstart Our Business Startups (JOBS) Act of 2012, the…
National Review
Google Bans Payday Loan Ads: Who Needs Operation Choke Point?
Yesterday, Google announced in a blog post that it was changing the terms of its advertising service to ban payday-loan ads. Their reasoning was…
Foundation for Economic Education
Is the British Prime Minister a Tax Dodger?
It’s the issue that consumed British politicians and newspapers at the end of April. What Britons do about it will determine whether their nation will…
Newsmax
Financial Protection Bureau Takes Aim at Consumers
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) just proposed limiting binding-arbitration clauses in credit card contracts and other forms of consumer credit. This does not come…
National Review
The CFPB Moves to Ban Arbitration Clauses — Better Lawyer Up
Add another 377 pages to the ever-burgeoning length of the Dodd-Frank Act. Today, the Consumer Financial Protection Racket Bureau announced that it would use its…
Wealth Management
Why the DOL Rule Is Bad for Small Savers
The Department of Labor’s (DOL) “fiduciary rule,” likely to first take effect in June unless blocked by Congress or the courts, will deprive small…
Legal Newsline
U.S. House passes resolution to block DOL’s fiduciary rule
Legal Newsline reports on a letter from CEI and other organizations to Congress urging them to pass a resolution of disapproval to block the Department of Labor's Fiduciary…
Letters
CEI and 30 Free-Market Groups Support Vote to Block Labor Department’s Fiduciary Rule
Full Document Available in PDF Members of Congress: We, the undersigned organizations and individuals, represent millions of Americans in defense of free…
Blog
CEI Supports Vote to Block Labor Department’s Fiduciary Rule
Today, Congress has the opportunity to block the costly "Fiduciary Rule."…
Blog
FSOC Misunderstands Leverage, Threatens Risk Management
The Financial Stability Oversight Council recently released its “Update on Review of Asset Management Products and Activities,” in which it questions “how certain asset…
National Review
A Chance to Stop Obamacare for Your IRA
A few weeks ago I warned about the Department of Labor’s “Fiduciary Rule” – Obamacare for your retirement accounts. Now comes a chance…
Blog
The Chilling Effect of Dark Matter
Here at CEI, we know all about the chilling effect of executive power. We also know quite a bit about the extent to which…
Letters
CEI Joins Coalition to Oppose Taxpayer Bailouts for Government-Run Insurance Schemes
Full Document Available as PDF Dear Representative, On behalf of the millions of citizens represented by the undersigned groups, we write in…
Bloomberg
As Dodd-Frank Fight Continues, the Resistance Scores Some Victories
Bloomberg discusses the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau with CEI's Sam Kazman. That fact, combined with the CFPB’s independence from the congressional appropriations process,…
Blog
Who Died and Made Dodd-Frank Regulators Gods?
Meet the new deities. They apparently sit on the Financial Stability Oversight Council and other regulatory agencies, especially those created by the Dodd-Frank banking “reform”…
