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
Inflation drops some in June, does not yet indicate inflation relief is here to stay: CEI analysis
The Consumer Price Index report for June fell 0.4 percent, mostly canceling out May’s 0.5 percent increase. While this may provide some immediate…
Blog
Lessons Kevin Warsh can learn from the late Alan Greenspan
Alan Greenspan’s recent passing provides an opportunity to reassess his legacy as Chairman of the Federal Reserve and consider the lessons Kevin Warsh can…
Blog
Before reform comes review: What Warsh’s task forces could mean for the Fed
Major institutional reforms rarely begin with sweeping policy changes. More often, they begin with a willingness to reexamine long-standing assumptions. That is what makes…
Search Posts
Letters
Senate Should Reject Dodd-Frank
Full Document Available in PDF The so-called financial “reform” legislation, agreed to by House and Senate Democrats in Conference, and…
Letters
Double Taxation Working Group
Full Document Available in PDF We are writing to express our appreciation for your efforts to protect Americans from tax increases that…
Newsletter
Financial Regulation, Immigration and Climate Legislation
The Senate prepares to vote on a financial regulation bill. A Heritage Foundation report finds that deportation of undocumented immigrants has fallen during the Obama…
News Release
Privatize American Cities? Learning Lessons from Disney’s Experiment with “Private” Government
Washington, D.C., July 14, 2010 – Would governments do a better job of governing if some were privatized? A new case study by the Competitive…
Study
Florida’s Reedy Creek Improvement District
Could private government help fix Florida's property insurance system?…
Newsletter
Banning Pets, Vampire Attacks and Consumer Credit
The City of San Francisco proposes a ban on pet sales. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has received some bizarre claims, including a woman’s…
News Release
Michigan Supreme Court Decision on Insurance Rates a Win for Consumers
The Supreme Court of Michigan this week reversed an initiative of Gov. Jennifer Granholm which would have barred insurance companies from considering the credit ratings…
Op-Eds
State Needs New Leadership on Insurance Policies
It’s sometimes hard to picture your insurance company as a caped hero sweeping in to rescue you in times of crisis. Yet, that is what…
Commonwealth Foundation
I&R Makes Way for Liquor Store Privatization in WA
Newsletter
Online Gambling, Leadership in Business vs. Politics and Corporate Accounting
The State of California is working to (partially) “legalize” online gambling. Former congressman Mickey Edwards writes on the qualities of…
Commonwealth Foundation
Court Ruling ‘Another Reason to Vote no on Dodd-Frank’
Commonwealth Foundation
Oversight law survives Supreme Court Battle
Commonwealth Foundation
Supreme Court’s SOX Decision May be Non-Event for IT
Commonwealth Foundation
Is Scott Brown a Game-Changer on the Financial Bill?
A Yogi-ism for Congress: “It ain’t over until both houses of Congress vote for an identical bill and send it to the president’s desk —…
Wall Street Journal
How I (Almost) Killed Sarbox
Wall Street Journal
Supreme Court Sarbanes-Oxley Decision
Wall Street Journal
Supreme Court SOX Ruling Has IT Implications
News Release
Supreme Court Strikes Down Key Sarbanes-Oxley Provisions
Nearly five years ago, CEI and accountant Brad Beckstead began to discuss mounting a constitutional challenge to Sarbanes-Oxley’s Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB). The…
Wall Street Journal
Is Scott Brown a Game-Changer on the Financial Bill?
A Yogi-ism for Congress: “It ain’t over until both houses of Congress vote for an identical bill and send it to the president’s desk…
CEI On Demand
Sam Kazman on Free Enterprise Fund v. PCAOB
General Counsel Sam Kazman discusses the far reaching implications of the Supreme Court’s ruling in Free Enterprise Fund v. Public Company Accounting Oversight Board.
Newsletter
Official Bedtimes, Stimulus Creep and Free Trade Agreements
Japan’s Environment Ministry is encouraging its citizens to go to bed an hour earlier at night, and get up an hour earlier in the morning.
News Release
Supreme Court Decision Spares America From Becoming International Magnet for Lawsuits
Washington, D.C., June 24, 2010 – The U.S. Supreme Court today saved this country from becoming a target-rich environment for international litigation, ruling against…
CEI On Demand
USA Today Cheers Proposed Financial Protection Agency
CEI On Demand
The Walgreen Amendment
In passing the financial regulation bill, U.S. Senators made a point of how they were going after the “fat cats” on Wall Street.
CEI On Demand
Stimulus Spending Has Done Little to Promote Growth (Letter to the Editor)
The stimulus package destroyed private-sector jobs, since it was financed by borrowing money from private citizens that would otherwise have been spent on private…
Newsletter
Oil Spill Assistance, Immigration Crackdown and Money for Nothing
The White House refused to allow foreign ships to assist with cleanup of the BP oil spill. Arizona’s immigration crack-down inspires a public referendum on…
News Release
Memo: Upcoming Supreme Court decision in Sarbanes-Oxley case
MEMO TO: Friends of CEI FROM: John Berlau, Director of CEI’s Center for Entrepreneurs and Investors DATE: June 21, 2010 SUBJECT: …
Newsletter
Online Gambling, Orcs on Wall Street and the Chimera of Green Jobs
Congress continues to discuss a plan that would legalize online gambling in all fifty states. The government is on the prowl…
Newsletter
Financial Reform, Hurricane Season and Bank Fees
Congress continues negotiations on a major financial reform bill. Florida Governor Charlie Christ vetoes a bill that would have allowed Florida insurance companies to build…
CEI On Demand
Bad Idea: Congress Blocks Checking Overdraft Fees
Banks can afford to offer free checking accounts with no minimum balance, to responsible people, only because they can charge overdraft fees to irresponsible…
News Release
Center-Right Groups Protest Durbin ‘Interchange Fee’ Amendment Pushing Through Price Controls and Benefitting Big Retailers
Washington, D.C., June 17, 2010 – A coalition of 15 free-market and conservative groups are calling on Congress to reject credit and debit card…
Letters
No Place for Corporate Welfare in Financial Regulation
Full Document Available in PDF As leaders of groups representing millions of Americans that comprise a Center-Right Coalition, we oppose price controls in…
Letters
Coalition Letter Against Durbin Interchange Fee Price Control Amendment to Financial Reform Bill
Full Document Available in PDF As leaders of groups representing millions of Americans that comprise a Center-Right Coalition, we oppose price controls in…
Blog
FL property insurance: turning a blind eye is not reform
While deregulation is always a good thing, we shouldn’t be fooled into believing that the recent news that Florida’s office of insurance regulation has…
Comment
Upcoming Supreme Court Decisions in Sarbanes-Oxley Case
Full Document Available in PDF The Supreme Court is expected to hand down its decision soon in a major case involving…
CEI On Demand
Corporate Catfight Over Payment-Card Fees
Blog
AIG Bailout Had “Poisonous” Effect, Bailout Oversight Panel Says
“American International Group Inc.’s bailout had a ‘poisonous’ effect on the U.S. financial system because it demonstrated the government would protect Wall Street firms from…
Newsletter
Murkowski v. EPA, Big Labor and Debit Card Fees
The Senate will vote today on Lisa Murkowski’s resolution to block the Environmental Protection Agency from regulating greenhouse gasses under the Clean Air Act. Arkansas…
CEI On Demand
Let Michigan Insurance Consumers Tailor Auto Coverage
Imagine you live in a town where anyone who dines out is required to buy a $200 bottle of champagne with their meal. That…
Newsletter
EPA’s Global Warming Plans, Debit Card Fees and Alcohol Energy Drinks
The Senate will vote this week on Lisa Murkowski’s resolution to block the EPA’s proposed global warming regulations. California State Senator Jenny Oropeza has introduced…
Newsletter
Ethanol, Amtrak and Auto Insurance
New global warming legislation contains subsidies for ethanol production. Amtrak, which loses money annually, is now embroiled in legal troubles. State governments take an increasingly…
CEI On Demand
Let Michigan Insurance Consumers Tailor Coverage
Imagine you live in a town where anyone who dines out is required to buy a $200 bottle of champagne with their meal. That…
Newsletter
BP, the Supreme Court on Corporate Accounting and Eliot Spitzer on CNN
Many are pointing to the BP oil spill as proof of the failure of free market capitalism. The Supreme Court is expected to soon hand…
CEI On Demand
Peekaboo! I See You…Acting Unconstitutionally
During the next two weeks, the Supreme Court will rule on a case that, if decided correctly, will bring relief to small businesses all…
CEI On Demand
Accounting Regulatory Failures
CEI On Demand
Fat Cats Feed on Durbin’s Fee Change
Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin never tires of making a show of going after "fat cats," but a recent measure of his could better…
News Release
Supreme Court to Rule on Major Sarbanes-Oxley Case
Washington, D.C., June 3, 2010—The U.S. Supreme Court will soon hand down a major ruling which could put much-needed constitutional limits on an agency…
CEI On Demand
Obama’s Next Bailout Beneficiaries: Corrupt Union Pension Funds
The Obama administration and its congressional allies are now pushing for billions more in bailouts for mismanaged union pension funds, and teachers unions.
CEI On Demand
Fee Free Way to Protect Consumers
The U.S. Senate, in the name of protecting American consumers, passed last month a massive financial regulation bill that creates the Bureau of Consumer…
CEI On Demand
Senate Financial Bill Wrong for Main Street
The “Restoring American Financial Stability Act,” that passed Congress last week with 39 senators voting nay, will hurt Main Street investors and entrepreneurs, and worsen…
