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
News Release
Federal Reserve keeps interest rates steady, higher inflation likely to continue: CEI analysis
The Fed has decided to keep interest rates steady, with inflation still too high to warrant rate cuts. With Fed Chairman Jerome Powell’s term…
News Release
SEC to seek end to quarterly reporting mandate: CEI analysis
The Securities and Exchange Commission will propose to end mandatory quarterly reporting for public companies, and give companies the option to file semi-annually instead, according…
The National News Desk
Inflation steady in February, but war risks new price surge
The National News Desk cited CEI’s expert on CPI data “The longer the Strait of Hormuz remains closed, the greater the upward pressure on energy…
Search Posts
Blog
How to Get Rid of Obsolete Regulations
The House this week is considering H.R. 1675, the Encouraging Employee Ownership Act, sponsored by Rep. Randy Hultgren (R-Ill.). I’ll leave it to my colleague…
News Release
House Leads Effort to End Operation Choke Point Abuse
The U.S. House of Representatives is expected to vote Thursday, February 4, on a bill curtailing Operation Choke Point, an Obama administration initiative launched in 2013…
Blog
Bill Aims to Stop Operation Choke Point Happening Again
Operation Choke Point is a major abuse of executive authority. As we have detailed over the last couple of years, Choke Point is an…
Blog
Interchange Fee Warnings Coming True in EU
We have often warned about the negative effects of interchange fee regulation and specifically a cap on interchange fees. Last year we warned the European Parliament that…
Blog
David Bowie, Financial Wizard
With the announcement today of the death of David Bowie, tributes from fellow artists and his millions of fans are pouring in. While it may…
Blog
UK Brewery Success Shows Lost Freedom in U.S.
On Tuesday evening, President Obama will give his final State of the Union address. In evaluating the state of the U.S., it’s useful to look…
Forbes
Let Small Businesses Fuel Job Growth Again
As 2015 has come to an end, the Federal Reserve has finally raised interest rates, but they will still remain near zero. Zero also approximates…
Blog
2015 – The Year of Equity Crowdfunding
As 2015 comes to a close, it’s time for year-end retrospectives, in which the past year is proclaimed the “year of” something. So in that…
Blog
Omnibus: No Financial Reg Relief, Dangerous GSE Provision, But a Little CFPB Sunshine
My Competitive Enterprise Institute colleagues and I have made the case for members of Congress to use the omnibus spending bill as an exercise…
The Wall Street Journal
Help the Small and Nimble Get a Start Going Public
Christopher Mims writes that letting ordinary Americans invest in the early stages of high-growth firms “has long been the dream” of equity crowdfunding advocates (“Startup…
Newsmax
New Obama Rule Could Gag Talk Radio
It is indeed sad that 40 percent of millennials favor the government banning speech that some deem offensive, according to a recent Pew poll. Even…
American Spectator
Will DOL’s ‘Fiduciary Rule’ Silence Dave Ramsey?
John Berlau writes on how the 'Fiduciary Rule' will regulate the speech of radio shows that give financial advice. It is indeed sad…
Blog
Will DOL’s “Fiduciary Rule” Silence Dave Ramsey?
It is indeed sad that 40 percent of millennials favor the government banning speech that some deem offensive, according to a recent Pew poll. Even…
Newsmax
CFPB’s Database Should Be Bipartisan Privacy Concern
Newsmax features an article by CEI's John Berlau on the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The behemoth Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) played a…
Blog
CFPB’s Database Should Be Bipartisan Privacy Concern
The behemoth Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) played a big role in Tuesday night’s GOP presidential debate on Fox Business, both during the commercials and…
Heartland
Lawmakers Hit Brakes On Proposed Fiduciary Broker Rules
Heartland Institute discusses the DOL's proposed fiduciary rule and mentions John Berlau and his comparison of the rule to Obamacare. “People will lose brokers…
Newsmax
We Need Protection From Fannie and Freddie
John Berlau, in his article for Newsmax, discusses the future of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and the bill that will prevent their bail out.
Blog
Freddie Mac’s Loss Shows Need to Protect Taxpayers from GSE Raids
I wish baseball great Yogi Berra were still here—upon the release of Freddie Mac’s new quarterly report showing a sudden Q3 loss—so he could offer…
Blog
Equity Crowdfunding at Last, But Still Incomplete
More than three years after the JOBS Act was signed into law by President Obama, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) today will finally vote…
TribLive
Stopping the Government’s Raid on Savings
TribLive interviews John Berlau on the Department of Labor's proposed "fiduciary rule," laying out the dangers of this proposed policy. The rule would…
Blog
CEI at Money20/20
I’m here on the Las Vegas Strip at Money20/20, a trade show and forum in the area of FinTech—a term used to describe a…
Blog
Onions Have No Futures
Lots of people object to markets in certain commodities. Kidneys, archeological relics, adoption rights, and a host of more prosaic items have been deemed by…
Newsmax
Govt Vies for Control Over Your Investment Decisions
John Berlau writes in Newsmax about the recent CEI headed coalition letter to Congress urging them to defund the DOL's "fiduciary rule." A…
Litigation
Challenging Dodd-Frank: State National Bank of Big Spring v. Mnuchin
The Competitive Enterprise Institute, the 60 Plus Association, and the State National Bank of Big Spring, Texas brought a lawsuit in 2012 challenging the constitutionality…
The Hill
Overnight Finance: Path clears for Ryan; GOP backing off debt-limit bill
The Hill interviews John Berlau on CEI's recent coalition letter written to Congress urging them to defund the Department of Labor's fiduciary rule.
Blog
33 Groups Call on Congress to Defund Portfolio Attack by Labor Department
Today, a coalition letter signed by leaders of 33 leaders of free-market and conservative public policy organizations urges Congress to defund the Department of…
News Release
CEI-Led Coalition Asks Congress to Help Middle Class and Stop Labor Dept Fiduciary Rule
Thirty-three conservative and free-market groups, coordinated by the Competitive Enterprise Institute, sent a coalition letter today urging congressional leaders to defund the destructive “fiduciary rule”…
Daily Caller
The Bipartisan Push Back Against Obama’s Retirement Attack
The Daily Caller details CEI's recent coalition letter written to Congress detailing the restrictions the Department of Labor's fiduciary rule places on Americans and their…
Letters
Coalition Letter Urging Congressional Leaders to Defund the Department of Labor’s “Fiduciary Rule”
Full Document Available in PDF Dear Speaker Boehner and Majority Leader McConnell: We, the undersigned organizations and individuals, represent millions of Americans…
Blog
Back to the Future in Payments Technology
One of the things Back to the Future Part II almost got right about 2015 was how Biff paid for his cab ride—with a thumbprint. A lot…
Daily Caller
Clinton Donor Lobbied State For Taxpayer-Backed Loans, Emails Reveal
The Daily Caller references Ryan Young's paper on the Overseas Private Investment Corporation as it faced its charter expiration date this fall. The…
Daily Caller
Why Warren’s Witch-Hunt Won’t Work
CEI's expert John Berlau writes for The Daily Caller discussing Elizabeth Warren's desire for an increase in financial regulations. Elizabeth Warren “drew blood,”…
NewsMax
Elizabeth Warren Wants to Make Financial Decisions For You
John Berlau discusses Elizabeth Warren's pushes for excessive financial regulations in his piece published in News Max. Elizabeth Warren “drew blood,” writes Washington…
Blog
Warren Bullies Not Just Litan But Consumers
Elizabeth Warren “drew blood,” writes Washington Post reporter Tom Hamburger. “Elizabeth Warren Claims Another Scalp,” reads the headline of an excellent piece by John Fund at National Review…
Legal Brief
Amicus Brief: PHH Corporation v. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB)
Full Document Available in PDF The Competitive Enterprise Institute, the 60 Plus Association, and the State National Bank of Big Spring filed…
Epoch Times
8 Reasons Congress Should End Taxpayer Support for the Overseas Private Investment Corporation
Epoch Times references CEI's Ryan Young for information on why Congress should allow the Overseas Private Investment Corporation's charter to expire. OPIC claims…
The Hill
A Simple Way to Grow America’s Economy and Create Jobs
Coauthored with Lindsay Lewis, executive director of the Progressive Policy Institute. It’s hard to find common ground between the two parties in Washington these days,…
The Daily Caller
OPIC Is The New Ex-Im: House GOP Could Split Again Over Crony Capitalism
The Daily Caller mentions Ryan Young’s report on the Overseas Private Investment Corporation: A recent report from the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI)…
Blog
Transparency in Card Fees: Where Does the Argument Stop?
There are three ways banks that issue credit and debit cards can gain revenue from them: interest rates (in the case of credit cards) charged…
Study
Real Goals to Empower the Developing World
The United Nations is soon due to replace its ambitious Millennium Development Goals with a new set of far more extensive and even more ambitious…
Blog
Australian Reserve Bank Gets the Economics Wrong on Interchange Fees
A new report commissioned by the International Alliance for Electronic Payments, of which CEI is a member, finds that the Reserve Bank of Australia…
USA Today
Hillary Clinton’s Right on Smashing ‘Quarterly Capitalism’
“Quarterly capitalism” is a new focus of Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign that could pick up even more steam with recent market turmoil. “It’s easy to…
News Release
Fiduciary rule set for Thursday House hearing
As the House Financial Services Committee hearing convenes Thursday on the Department of Labor’s “fiduciary rule,” Competitive Enterprise Institute senior fellow John Berlau hopes committee…
Opportunity Lives
California’s Pension System is Headed Off a Cliff – Here’s How We Can Fix It
Here at Opportunity Lives, we’ve covered how Americans are hungry for news with a solutions bias. One bearer of such news is Lawrence J. McQuillan,…
Blog
CEI’s Coalition Letter to Prevent New Bailouts of Fannie and Freddie
As the Dodd-Frank “financial reform” celebrated its fifth anniversary this summer, just about every financial business—as well as many nonfinancial firms—have come under its thumb.
Letters
CEI Coalition Letter supporting H.R. 1673 to Prevent New Fannie-Freddie Bailouts
View the PDF Here Open Letter to the House and Senate: Protect Taxpayers from Another Fannie/Freddie Bailout – Enact the Enterprise…
Blog
Savers Oppose “Fiduciary Rule” Sold by Labor Department as “Protecting” Them
“A fundamental shift in Wall Street culture” is what the Department of Labor is aiming for with the “fiduciary rule.” That’s what DOL Deputy Assistant…
Blog
Dodd-Frank Act Strangles Small Banks
The 2010 Dodd-Frank Act was enacted partly to end “too-big-to-fail” banks, but it has done quite the opposite. It has curbed competition with big banks…
The Freeman
Liquid Capital Was the First Killer App
The sharing economy is older than smartphone apps. The modern financial system may be the first example to have evolved. Rather than sharing capital assets…
Blog
CEI and Allies Submit Evidence to Australian Senate Inquiry on Credit Cards
Today, CEI and other members of the International Alliance for Electronic Payments joined the Australian Taxpayers Alliance in submitting evidence to an Australian Senate inquiry into credit…
