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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Blog
Trump EO on debanking is a mixed bag for financial freedom
President Trump’s new Executive Order (EO) on debanking correctly decries the weaponization of the financial regulation, and contains many good provisions preventing government regulators…

News Release
Interest rates not budging, Fed to focus on inflation not stimulus: CEI analysis
The Federal Reserve announced today that they are holding steady on interest rates in a continued effort to combat inflation. CEI senior economist…

Issues and Insights
Congress Misses Opportunity To Repeal IRA Stock Buyback Tax
Republicans hailed the One Big Beautiful Bill for achieving tax cuts and spending reductions. Despite this victory, the bill was missing a fix for an unwarranted…
Search Posts
Op-Eds
It’s About Economic Growth, Stupid!: Kemp Nationally Syndicated Column
Kemp Column Distributed by Copley News Service Kemp Column Distributed by Copley News Service President George W.
News Release
Statement from CEI President Fred Smith Regarding New CBO Report on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac
Washington, DC, May 23, 2001 – The latest figures from the Congressional Budget Office indicating that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac receive more than $10…
Op-Eds
Don’t Give Up the SS Bully Pulpit: Kemp Nationally Syndicated Column
Distributed by Copley News Service Distributed by Copley News Service March 12, 2001 President Bush's approach to tax cutting…
Comment
Why the War on Money Laundering Should be Aborted
Dr. Richard W. Rahn, Chairman of Novecon Financial, was one of the contributors to The Future of Financial Privacy: Private Choices versus Political Rules (2000). He…
Op-Eds
Kickoff for Economic Growth
Washington, D.C., is a funny place. It’s probably the only place on Earth where a majority of people turn to the editorial page of the newspaper before they…
Citation
Bush Announces Nominees to Tackle the Tough Issues
Citation
Tax Reform Advocates Say Call Flat Tax a Green Tax
Op-Eds
Class Clash and Fabrication
Vice President Al Gore and President Clinton not only took sole credit for today’s splendid economy in their speeches last week at the Democratic National Convention,…
Citation
The Hidden Burden
Op-Eds
Stock Market Roulette or Fiscal Snobbery?
One of the great debates of our time is whether it is possible for America to become a shareholder democracy, in which all workers can own assets and…
News Release
Shadow Insurance Regulation Committee Statement on Regulatory Restructuring
Washington, DC, May 5, 2000 – The Shadow Insurance Regulation Committee concludes that the two main objectives of any restructuring of insurance regulation…
Citation
Government Wants Control of MS
News Release
Shadow Insurance Regulation Committee issues statements on Commercial Insurance Deregulation, Workers’ Comp, and Electronic Comm
Washington, DC, April 19, 1999 – The Shadow Insurance Regulation Committee issued three statements of consensus today, concerning commercial insurance deregulation, workers’ compensation…
Op-Eds
One-Track Mind
Molly Munger graduated from Harvard Law School in 1974, a member of the school’s first class that was more than 10 percent female. She was…
Study
Federal Reinsurance for Homeowner’s Insurance: Another Capitol Hill Disaster.
Storm clouds over Capitol Hill. House Banking Committee members are teetering on the brink of triggering a mega-disaster this week that is pointed…
News Release
Shadow Insurance Committee to Meet October 25 to Review Catastrophe Insurance Financing & Redlining Issues
Washington, D.C., October 22, 1999 – The Shadow Insurance Regulation Committee will hold its second meeting of the year at 12 noon on October…
Op-Eds
Reinsurance Proposal Troubling
As Floyd moves up the coastline, it appears that most property owners have dodged the burden of potentially devastating losses that could stress private-insurance markets:…
Op-Eds
New Pricing Plans Are Good
This isn’t your father’s telecommunications market. Long-distance pricing was once onesize-fits-all, with high, distance-sensitive rates cast in stone by regulators. Now that is changing, as…
Op-Eds
Superstores Helpful (Letter to the Editor)
The article ” ‘Good simplicity’ falls by the wayside” by reporter Craig Wilson asserts that “shopping at the mall or Wal-Mart or a fast food…
Op-Eds
Suburban Development Made Scapegoat for Urban Woes (Letter to the Editor)
The national debate about suburban development spawns many misunderstandings about the real issues. The recent USA TODAY editorial and response by Vice President Al Gore…
Op-Eds
Suit Will Hurt Competition
Increasingly, Americans are losing faith in their government. The U.S. Department of Justice’s action against American Airlines on Thursday underscores why. The lawsuit seeks to…
Orange County Register
Garages: Good for Business
Op-Eds
Unlivable Communities
Vice President Al Gore recently announced a new “livable com munities agenda,” designed to “ensure a high quality of life” by controlling so-called “urban sprawl.” But…
Orange County Register
Predatory Pricing Miscues
Op-Eds
How to Get Real Social Security: Tom Miller Article in Reader’s Digest
“Am I ever going to see that money again Published in Reader’s Digest December 1998 “Am I ever going to see…
Orange County Register
Customers Granted Microsoft its 90 Percent Market Share
Study
Insuring Against Natural Disasters: Possibilities for Market-Based Reform
Full Document Available in PDF In the 105th Congress, the…
Products
Rethinking Insurance Regulation–1998
NATURAL DISASTERS AND CATASTROPHIC…
Study
A Disaster Waiting to Happen: Why Washington Shouldn’t Subsidize Disaster Insurance
This Thursday, April 23, the House Banking and Financial Services Committee will examine H.R. 219, the Homeowners Insurance Availability Act sponsored by Rep. Rick…
Study
Michigan’s Insurance Industry: New Directions
Full Document Available in PDF With the coming of the administration of Republican…
Products
Flirting With Disaster
Congress is again exploring new ways to undermine the private market for homeowners insurance in disaster-prone parts of the country. On February…
Study
Risk-Based Homeowners Insurance Under Siege: The Slippery Slope From Redlining Charges To Disparate Impact Claims
Full Document Available in…
Products
Abusing Discrimination
In America at century’s end, the surest way to obtain special treatment for a social group is to assert that its members suffer…
Products
Disparate Impact Dangers
On March 10 one of the nation's largest property and casualty insurers, Nationwide Insurance Company, agreed to part with $13.2 million to settle allegations…
Products
NAIC Insures Privileged Access
Thousands of insurance executives and regulators converged on Orlando, Fla., in March to attend the spring meeting of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners…
Products
New Choices in Auto Insurance
The high cost of auto insurance is a serious concern for many people across the country. Annual premiums can run into thousands of dollars.
Study
Rethinking Insurance Regulation
View Full Document as PDF Dr. Joseph Olson delivered a keynote address at the Mayflower Hotel for a conference sponsored by the…
Study
The Business and Regulation of Insurance: A Primer
Full Document Available in PDF…
Study
A Primer on Derivatives
Full Version Available in PDF Although criticized often and considered unfathomably complex, "derivatives" are relatively straightforward financial contracts that are not inherently…
Study
The World Bank’s Trail of Sorrows
View Document as PDF As congress looks for ways to reduce the federal budget, it should start by cutting htose programs with…
Study
The World Bank’s Trail of Sorrows
Study
The Anti-Redlining Agenda: An Assault on Risk-based Insurance
Executive Summary The House of Representatives is considering two competing bills aimed at addressing recent charges of insurance industry redlining (the refusal to…
Orange County Register
How the IMF Could Become a Real S&P for International Debt
Should the U.S, donate an added $8.4 billion- to the International Monetary Fund? IMF opponents, of course, answer “No,” They claim that increased- IMF funding…