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
Supreme Court Disappoints on Funding/Powers Question in Ruling in CFPB Case
The Supreme Court today issued a disappointing ruling in CFPB v. Community Financial Services Association of America, a lawsuit challenging the unchecked funding of…
News Release
No surprises with April’s inflation report: CEI analysis
Inflation rose 0.3 percent in April compared to 0.4 percent in March. While this wasn’t a surprise for economists, the news indicates a tough…
Blog
Navigating the maze of federal regulations in 2024: What to know
In a bureaucratic whirlwind, the 2024 Federal Register is attaining new heights, topping 41,000 pages today. An unsettling new norm for the past few weeks…
Search Posts
Newsletter
Sarbanes-Oxley, Cancer Drugs and Discrimination Law
The National Law Journal warns that penalties in the Sarbanes-Oxley accounting rules for public companies can extend to individuals and private entities. Drug maker Cephalon…
Newsletter
Recession, Trade and Home Ownership
White House advisors cite the slowing economy as part of their call for tighter regulation of mortgage lenders. U.S. exports…
Citation
the Chamber of Commerce’s Support of Optional Federal Chartering
Study
The Community Reinvestment Act’s Harmful Legacy
How the CRA has hurt those it was intended to help, residence of low income neighborhoods with little access to credit.
Citation
South Carolina Homeowners Insurance Reform
Newsletter
Interest Rates, Video Games and an Economist Debate
Investors expect the Federal Reserve to enact a rare full percentage point cut in interest rates. A federal appeals court rules that Minnesota cannot fine…
Citation
the Possibility of a Recession
Citation
On the Verge of Another Fed Rate Cut; Update: Interest Rate Lowered .75 to 2.25 Percent
Study
Some Answers about Credit Unions
A recent, widely circulated advertisement from the American Bankers Association asks some questions of the credit union industry. They’re good questions and, in…
Newsletter
Gun Rights, Spitzer’s Legal Legacy and Economic Stimulus
The Supreme Court prepares to hear a challenge to Washington, D.C.’s city-wide ban on handguns. New York Governor Eliot Spitzer officially resigns from office today…
Op-Eds
Freedom and its Digital Discontents
John Berlau, director of CEI's Center for Entrepreneurship, debates Sarbanes-Oxley in the Economist…
Newsletter
Bandwidth Flood, Ethanol Victims and Insurance Mandates
Politicians debate the possibility of requiring Americans to purchase health insurance. Ethanol mandates continue to raise prices on agricultural producers around the country. Internet experts…
Study
Property and Casualty Insurance Report Card
Full Document Available in PDF According to Barron’s, the U.S. dominates the…
Study
The Case for Interstate Insurance Choice
Why Creating National Markets for Property and Casualty Insurance and Health Insurance Will Help Insurers and Consumers…
Citation
Dumb Product Bans
Study
First Steps toward Restoring Florida’s Insurance Market
Full Document Available in PDF As Florida’s Legislature proceeds with its…
Study
The Five Dumbest Product Bans
This paper focuses on five clearly absurd product bans that seem to serve no social good.
The Atlantic
Taxi Cab Confessions
Study
Restoring Florida’s Insurance Market
By the end of the 1990s, Florida’s property insurance market had largely recovered from the effects of 1992’s Hurricane Andrew, one of the costliest storms…
Op-Eds
A Disaster in the Making
Late last year, two recently elected southern Republican governors, Louisiana's Bobby Jindal and Florida's Charlie Crist, vowed to work together for a "national catastrophe fund"…
The Atlantic
Stimulation-Palooza: The Inevitable Lard-Up
The Atlantic
Stimulicious Stupidity
The Atlantic
Chuck Schumer Wants a Second Stimulus Package
National Review
Will the Stimulus Package Stimulate Marital Breakdown?
Op-Eds
Lawmakers, undo some of 2007 reforms
A year has passed since Gov. Charlie Crist and a nearly unanimous Legislature hailed the arrival of a new era for Florida’s property insurance…
National Review
Grantor’s Tax Should Be Repealed, Too
Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine now wants to repeal the abusive-driver fees contained in Virginia’s 2007 transportation law, even though he signed that law and…
Study
Pros and Cons of Optional Federal Chartering for Insurers
Full Document Available in PDF The National Insurance…
Op-Eds
Vaccine Vindication
The vaccine preservative Thimerosal is not linked with autism, a new study reports. The data also suggest that the dilettante "scientist" Robert F. Kennedy,…
Products
CEI Planet: November – December 2007
Full Document Available in PDF The Tiger at a…
News Release
Bush Scheme for Lowering Home Mortgage Payments Could Trigger Credit Crunch
Washington, D.C., December 6, 2007—President Bush today week unveiled a plan to push financial institutions to "voluntarily" agree to freeze interest rates for adjustable-rate…
News Release
New Video: Cheers to Repeal Day!
Washington, D.C., December 4, 2007—The Bureaucrash Activist Network is releasing a new video just in time to celebrate the repeal of Prohibition…
News Release
Mortgage Sub-Prime Crisis Examined in New Report
Washington, D.C., November 8, 2007—As Congress scrambles to "fix" the sub-prime crisis that’s plunged mortgage lenders into bankruptcy and homeowners into trouble, a new…
Newsletter
CEI Daily Update
Issues in the News 1. CONGRESS President Bush threatens to veto the 2007 Farm Bill. CEI Expert Available to Comment: Adjunct…
Study
Web Memo: How an OFC Would Impact the States
Introduction…
News Release
Wildfire Crises Exacerbated by Government Forest, Insurance Policies
Washington, D.C., Oct. 26, 2007—In the aftermath of devastating fires ravaging parts of Southern California and causing an estimated $500 million in damage, it’s…
Newsletter
CEI Daily Update
Issues in the News 1. BUSINESS Residents of southern California survey the damage from recent wildfires. CEI Expert Available to Comment:…
Newsletter
CEI Daily Update
Issues in the News 1. LEGAL Several states prepare to sue the federal government over regulation of greenhouse gas emissions. CEI…
Newsletter
CEI Daily Update
Issues in the News 1. HEALTH The House of Representatives prepares for a vote to override President Bush’s veto of the…
Study
South Carolina’s Omnibus Coastal Insurance Legislation
Full Document Available in PDF In early 2007, South Carolina…
Letters
Letter to Congress in Support of Optional Federal Chartering
Dear Member: I’m writing to you in response to a letter that the Independent Insurance Agents and Brokers of America (the Big “I”) recently…
News Release
Supreme Court Stoneridge Case: Junk Lawsuits Harm Investors
Contact: Christine Hall, 202.331.2258…
News Release
Senate Weighs Plans for Overhauling Morass of State Insurance Regulation
Contact: <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = “urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags” />Christine Hall, 202.331.2258 Washington, D.C., Oct. 2, 2007— The Senate banking committee this…
Study
Optional Federal Charter for Insurers: FAQ
Full Document Available in PDF This paper provides a free market perspective on the…
Op-Eds
Crist’s insurance ‘fix’ might leave you broke
When former Gov. Jeb Bush recently said his successor's insurance reforms were “as bad as the natural disasters themselves,” he understated his case. As…
Newsletter
CEI Daily Update
Issues in the News 1. LEGAL The Supreme Court rejects an appeal by tobacco companies in a class action lawsuit brought by…
Newsletter
CEI Daily Update
Issues in the News 1. TECHNOLOGY Senators grill Google on consumer privacy concerns connected to the planned buyout of online…
Letters
Principles for Windstorm Insurance: A Joint Statement
The United States has entered a period of heavy hurricane activity. Much of the focus in the public policy debate has centered on insurance against…
Newsletter
CEI Daily Update
Issues in the News 1. AUTOMOBILITY Anti-car activist prepare to celebrate “World Car-Free Day.” CEI Expert Available…
News Release
Credit Union Deregulation Could Help Small Businesses
Washington, D.C., September 19, 2007—If Congress moves to de-regulate credit union business lending, it would help some selected categories of small businesses, according to…
Newsletter
CEI Daily Update
Issues in the News 1. BUSINESS Homeowners and small businesses look to yesterday’s interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve to ease a wide-spread…