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
Reason
Fight Government Corruption With Deregulation
Reason cited CEI’s expert on regulatory budgets “When regulatory systems become dense, opaque, and discretionary, they create perverse incentives for corruption,” Steve Swedberg, a regulatory…
The Washington Examiner
Credit card companies are easy to vilify, but the wrong target for consumer ire
The Washington Examiner cited CEI’s expert on financial policy. John Berlau, a senior fellow at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, said entrepreneurs turned to credit…
Blog
Cut the steel, cut the cost: Why Congress is right to scrap the chassis mandate
If buying a home in the US feels more expensive, that is not merely your imagination. A Harvard University study found that national single-family home…
Search Posts
Blog
FinCEN Files Shows Regulatory and Privacy Concerns with the Bank Secrecy Act and the Necessity for Reform or Repeal
Last month, BuzzFeed News published an investigative report that alleged that banks sat on their hands while criminals laundered trillions of dollars over the…
Blog
Fed’s Community Reinvestment Act Reform Proposal Is a Step in the Wrong Direction
Last month, the Federal Reserve released a preliminary proposal to update the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA). The Fed’s proposal, spearheaded by Obama-appointed Fed Governor Lael…
Blog
Tit-for-Tat Tariffs Don’t Work: Boeing and Airbus Show Why
A 16 year-long aerospace subsidies dispute between the United States and the European Union began another round this week. The U.S. claims that the EU’s…
Blog
New CFPB Reports Find Consumer Credit Resiliency During the COVID-19 Pandemic
Recent research from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has found that consumers have not experienced significant increases in negative credit outcomes as a result…
Blog
Finally, a Fix for Fannie and Freddie
In my recent blog post on the 10th anniversary of Dodd-Frank, I lamented that while “this supposed ‘financial reform’ has caused harmful and sometimes…
Blog
California’s Proposed Mini-CFPB Is Cronyist and Ill-Conceived
Earlier this month, the California Legislature passed the California Consumer Financial Protection Law (CCFPL) to create a new state-based regulatory agency modeled after the federal Consumer…
Blog
CEI Event with Hester Peirce and Paul Atkins: ESG, Crypto, and other SEC Hot Topics
Yesterday, in the most recent installment of the Competitive Enterprise Institute’s “Repeal for Resilience” event series, CEI President Kent Lassman welcomed Securities and Exchange Commission…
Blog
Don’t Let Feds Become Investing’s Sheriff of Nottingham
Investing company Robinhood and its signature smartphone app have taken off in popularity in the last several months. According to Bloomberg, Robinhood has “catapulted ahead…
Blog
The Washington Post Plays Fast and Loose in Coverage of CFPB performance During Pandemic
In a recent piece, Washington Post Opinions Contributor Helaine Olen slammed CFPB Director Kathy Kraninger for doing too little to protect consumers during the COVID-19…
News Release
SEC Takes Step Towards Equality, Against Privilege with Change to Accredited Investor Rule
Today the Securities and Exchange Commission announced action to liberalize so-called accredited investor regulation. John Berlau, a longtime proponent of such reform, praised the decision.
Forbes
What Comes After Trillion? Coming To Terms With The Impenetrable Costs Of Government Intervention
“We print it digitally,” Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said of money. They sure do. Real fiscal debt…
Blog
CFPB Shouldn’t Burden Debt Settlement with Regulations that Could Harm Consumers
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau recently published a report that explores the use and proliferation of debt settlement. While its findings identify some important trends…
Blog
Tragedy of Young Investor Shouldn’t Be Exploited to Harm Freedoms
The recent death of Alexander Kearns, the 20-year-old day trader who took his own life, has sparked a conversation about the business practices of an increasingly important…
American Greatness
U.S. Economy Suffers Biggest Quarterly Decline Ever, Under Coronavirus Lockdowns
American Greatness cites CEI senior fellows John Berlau and Iain Murray: The U.S. House of Representatives and Senate are considering bills for additional coronavirus relief…
Forbes
Don’t Exploit Tragedy to Curtail Beneficial Fintech Investing Apps
The recent death of Alexander Kearns, the 20-year-old day trader who took his own life, has sparked a conversation about the business practices…
News Release
Report: Anti-Price-Gouging Laws Do More Harm Than Good
Policymakers called for price gouging laws in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, when massive shortages—and rising prices—ensued nationwide for hand sanitizer, personal protective equipment,…
Study
#NeverNeeded Price Gouging Laws Would Harm COVID-19 Response
Price gouging becomes a hot topic during every crisis. It has become especially topical during the COVID-19 crisis. Almost overnight, the need exploded for goods…
Blog
Dodd-Frank Still Harmful After a Decade, But Modest Deregulation Has Helped
Dodd-Frank has caused harmful and sometimes disastrous effects for consumers, investors, entrepreneurs, and Main Street financial institutions such as community banks and credit unions. The…
Blog
Wealthy Millennials Not So Concerned with “Socially Responsible” Investing
In the last few years advocates of corporate social responsibility theory have been assuring everyone who would listen that a new day is dawning for…
Blog
CFPB’s Kraninger Should Drop Navient Litigation in Light of Supreme Court Holding
CEI has praised Kathy Kraninger, director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, for her many deregulatory initiatives that—in contrast to her predecessor, Richard Cordray—protect consumer…
The Washington Times
CFPB Retools Payday Loan Rules to Help Desperate Americans Access an Important Source of Credit
Despite phased reopenings across the country, the economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic continues, keeping unemployment too high and straining personal finances.
News Release
CFPB Offers Relief on Small Dollar Loans
Today, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) released its long-awaited final rewrite of the payday lending rule, formally titled the Payday, Vehicle Title, and Certain…
Blog
Seila Law Leaves More Questions than Answers over the Constitutionality of Past CFPB Actions
On June 29, the Supreme Court ruled the structure of Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to be unconstitutional. Chief Justice John Roberts delivered the majority opinion,…
News Release
Rather than reversing new fair-lending rules, Congress should instead completely repeal the Community Reinvestment Act
Today, House Democrats plan to use the Congressional Review Act to overturn recent actions taken by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC)…
News Release
CEI Opposes the Protecting Your Credit Score Act
The House of Representatives today is considering H.R. 5332, the Protecting Your Credit Score Act, a bill that would require credit bureaus to jointly create…
Blog
Webinar Panel: Thoughts on the HEROES Act and Regulation of the Debt Collection Industry
Debt collection firms play a vital role in a market economy, as part of the "plumbing"—the underlying architecture—that makes modern credit markets possible. Legislation to…
The Crypto Report
Ron Paul Fights For Bitcoin After Fed’s Payments System Threatens Crypto
The Crypto Report cites CEI senior fellow John Berlau regarding FedNow: Ever the champion of individual liberty, it is no surprise that Ron Paul…
Blog
Fedcoin and FedNow are Dangerous and Unnecessary Expansions of Federal Reserve Power
To counter the financial damage from America’s national lockdown, the Federal Reserve has taken unprecedented stepsy. Most of these moves received grudging acceptance even from…
News Release
Report: FedNow and FedCoin are Dangerous Expansions of Federal Reserve Power
A new Competitive Enterprise Institute report criticizes proposals for a central bank-issued cryptocurrency, which many call Fedcoin or digital dollar, as well as the Fed’s…
Study
Government-Run Payment Systems Are Unsafe at Any Speed
For people quarantining during the COVID-19 health crisis, electronic payments proved essential to obtaining needed supplies, from groceries to medicines, while maintaining social distancing and…
Inside Sources
Pandemic Should Spur Large Scale Deregulation to Aid Recovery
Regulations are a big obstacle in fighting the coronavirus. They are also a major obstacle to economic recovery.
Blog
Navient Files for Summary Judgement in Meritless CFPB Case
On May 19, student loan servicer Navient filed for summary judgement on a CFPB lawsuit started over three years ago. In the filing, Navient urged…
ACA International
From the Web: How the HEROES Act Constrains Debt Collection to the Detriment of Consumers
ACA International cites Policy Analyst Matthew Adams on the HEROES Act: In a blog post for the Competitive Enterprise Institute, Policy Analyst Matthew…
Blog
My Answer to J.K. Rowling on What Cryptocurrency Is
To paraphrase a famous financial services commercial from the 1970s and 1980s, when J.K. Rowling asks, people answer. When the famed author of the Harry…
News Release
CFPB Signals New Policies for Small-Dollar Lending, Mortgages
Just prior to Memorial Day weekend, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on May 22 announced two No-Action Letter Templates that will impact small-dollar lending and…
Blog
HEROES Act Mostly Grows Government, But Has Redeeming Cannabis Banking Provision
The HEROES Act calls for trillions of dollars in new deficit spending and includes a number of longstanding progressive pet projects unrelated to the COVID-19…
Blog
A National Interest Rate Cap Has No Place in the Next Coronavirus Relief Package
As the economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic continues to wreak havoc, it’s crucial that struggling Americans have access to affordable short-term credit. Congress should reject calls to include a…
News Release
Broad Alliance of Financial Services and Public Interest Groups File Petition for Rulemaking Challenging SEC’s Unlawful Regulation by Enforcement
The need for our government to set forth consistent, predictable rules has never been greater, and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is no exception. …
Blog
SEC’s Shuttering of Fund Fees – #NeverNeeded and Never Authorized
Over the past month, CEI and others have pointed to #NeverNeeded regulations that are hindering our response to the COVID-19 pandemic and to economic dislocation.
Letters
Coalition Letter Opposing Effort to Expand Durbin Amendment to Credit Cards
Dear President Trump, Majority Leader McConnell, and Speaker Pelosi As leaders of groups representing millions of consumers, taxpayers, and entrepreneurs, we sympathize with businesses struggling…
CNS News
COVID-19 May Be Bad News for Environmentalist Bullies
The economic destruction wrought by the coronavirus pandemic has been severe and global. More than 10 million Americans lost their jobs and applied for unemployment benefits in…
Blog
Modified Libra Cryptocurrency Still an Innovation, but Clear away Regulatory Barriers for More
Libra and other cryptocurrencies could serve functions other than initially imagined. The potential for faster payments from Libra and other cryptocurrencies, at a time when…
Blog
Facts, Not Feelings, Should Inform Regulation of the Debt Settlement Industry
As money gets tight during the COVID-19 pandemic and quarantine, policy makers need to ensure that struggling households have multiple options to manage their debts…
Letters
Open Letter to Blackrock CEO Larry Fink
Dear Mr. Fink, As the nation stands at the edge of an economic precipice and stares into it bleakly, you and your firm, the largest…
Blog
Why Is Trump’s SEC Chairman Looking to Bring Back an Obama-era Financial Rule?
SEC Chairman Jay Clayton has proposed a set of regulations last fall that would bar many middle class investors from buying mutual funds and exchange-traded…
Blog
Financial Services Committee Democrats Release COVID-19 Wish List
This week, Democrats on the House Financial Services Committee unveiled their public policy response to the COVID-19 pandemic. While framed as a goodwill attempt at…
News Release
Congress Should Reject Scheme to Use COVID-19 Stimulus to Impose Interest Rate Cap
Special interest groups are pressuring Congress to use the Coronavirus Stimulus Phase III bill as a vehicle for imposing a nationwide interest rate cap on…
Blog
Minting Trillion-Dollar Platinum Coins Won’t Help Fight the Economic Downturn
Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) introduced legislation aimed at tackling the economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic. Tlaib’s bill would give every single person in America…
Blog
Don’t Save Restaurants by Shafting Consumers
Restaurants are among the hardest—if not the hardest—hit of industries impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Like other industries, restaurants are lobbying Congress and state legislatures…
The Wall Street Journal
The SEC Wants to Be Your Nanny
A proposed rule would limit investments in risky funds to those with ‘financial sophistication,’ putting middle-class investors at a disadvantage.
The Washington Examiner
AOC Spreads Disinformation to Push Socialism Amid Coronavirus Panic
The Washington Examiner cites Research Fellow Richard Morrison on AOC’s comparison of the Fed’s response to COVID-19 and student loan debt relief: The…
Blog
As Supreme Court Debates CFPB Constitutionality, Agency Accountability Hangs in the Balance
The Supreme Court heard oral arguments last week over the constitutionality of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and whether, as currently structured, it is too…
Fox News
AOC Criticized For ‘Inapt’ Comparison Between Fed’s Coronavirus Response And Student Loan Debt Relief
Fox News cites Senior Fellow Richard Morrison on Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s comments on the coronavirus: But according to Competitive Enterprise Institute fellow Richard Morrison, Ocasio-Cortez was…
Blog
SEC’s Proposed Rules Would Take ETFs out of the Hands of Middle-Class Investors
CEI recently signed on to a coalition letter encouraging the Securities and Exchange Commission to abandon its plans to further regulate certain financial products and…
Blog
Chairman Crapo Offers Hope for Safe Banking in Controversial Industries
Last October, the House passed the Secure and Fair Enforcement (SAFE) Banking Act to provide safe harbor for banks and credit unions doing business with…
The Washington Times
Don’t Let the SEC Snatch Funds from Middle-Class Investors
In recent speeches, President Trump hailed deregulation as key to fueling big economic gains for all types of workers. Mr. Trump reminded Americans in his…
Blog
Democratic Witnesses Oppose Interest Rate Cap
American Banker ran a piece last week on a proposed law to impose an interest rate cap on small-dollar loans. While the hearing revealed the…
Blog
Interest Rate Caps Harm Financial Inclusion; Bank Partnerships Spread Inclusion Around
The House Financial Services Committee held a hearing last week on small-dollar lending and proposed legislation that would limit the interest rates on such loans.
Letters
CEI Joins Coalition Letter to SEC on Leveraged/Inverse Investment Vehicles
On November 25, 2019, the Commission re-proposed rule 18f-4 under the Investment Company Act of 1940, proposed new rule 15l-2 under the Securities Exchange Act…
Blog
CFPB Takes a Step to End Regulation by Enforcement
After almost a decade of ambiguity, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has finally offered some clarity to its definition of what constitutes an “abusive” practice…
Blog
Divisions Between Bank Regulators Over Fair-Lending Revamp Highlight the Need for Outright Repeal
Despite hesitation from the Federal Reserve, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) has made clear that they plan to push forward with…
Forbes
Fed Continues to Disregard Rules When Putting Forth Its Own Rules
President Trump hasn’t minced words on his criticisms of the Federal Reserve. Now he has some backup from Congress’ bipartisan Government Accountability Office (GAO), which…
Blog
Despite Naysayers, Consumer Finance Panelists are Uniquely Qualified to Tackle Barriers to Financial Inclusion
Last week, the Consumer Financial Protection announced the membership of the newly created Taskforce on Federal Consumer Financial Law, which will work to “harmonize and…
Comment
Comments on Proposed Rule Securing the Information and Communications Technology and Services Supply Chain
On behalf of the Competitive Enterprise Institute (“CEI”), we are pleased to provide the following comments on the Department of Commerce’s proposed regulation concerning the…
News Release
CEI Board Member Todd Zywicki to Head CFPB Task Force on Consumer Financial Law
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) today announced that Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) board member and George Mason University Foundation Professor of Law Todd Zywicki…
Letters
CEI Joins Coalition Letter on SEC Decision RE Consolidated Audit Trail Database
Dear Chairman Clayton, We, the undersigned organizations, write today to express our grave concerns with the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) decision to require broker-dealers…
The Daily Caller
BARR: The Fed Overreaches With Real-Time Payment Systems
The Daily Caller cites CEI on the 1980 Monetary Control Act. As the Competitive Enterprise Institute has pointed out, the 1980 Monetary Control…
Foreign Policy
Bid to Revive Export-Import Bank Runs Aground
Foreign Policy cites Senior Fellow Ryan Young on the Ex-Im bank: “It’s the ‘they do it, too’ fallacy,” said Ryan Young of the…
Blog
White House Blocks Most Green Energy Tax Credits in Final Spending Bill
The spending packages to fund the federal government through the end of the 2020 fiscal year ending on October 1st, which were passed by the…
Blog
Congress Racing To Extend and Expand Electric Vehicle, Wind, and Solar Tax Credits
It would be comforting to think that the House’s impeachment proceedings have so poisoned relations between Democrats and Republicans that the Congress won’t be able…
Blog
Don’t Just “Modernize” Community Reinvestment Act, Repeal It
On Thursday, financial regulators released a long-awaited reform proposal which would make substantial changes to the implementation and enforcement of the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA).
Letters
CEI Joins Coalition Letter to House Republicans on NFIP Rates
Dear Minority Leader McCarthy, Minority Whip Scalise, and Ranking Member McHenry: Our organizations write in response to the recent letter from 64 members to…
Daily Caller
Sarbanes-Oxley is Hampering Investment—Look For Trump’s SEC to Fix It
“In the risk reform debate, as in so many political debates, logic is often for losers.” So lamented Competitive Enterprise Institute founder and president emeritus Fred L.
Blog
Wind and Solar Tax Credits: Special Interest Subsidies
The House Ways and Means Committee on November 19th released a draft of its “Growing Renewable Energy and Efficiency Now (GREEN) Act” (summary). The sponsors propose to extend,…
Blog
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Should End Frivolous Student Loan Lawsuit
The efforts of Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) Director Kathy Kraninger have gone a long way in reversing egregious Obama-era actions that plagued the agency,…
The Washington Times
Congress Can Fix Legal Marijuana Business Banking Problem
Violent and property crime rates have decreased over the past 25 years, so it’s telling that instances of robbery or burglary against one sort of…
News Release
CEI Opposes Waters Ex-Im Bank Reauthorization Bill
The Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) opposes a bill authored by Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) that would reauthorize Export-Import Bank (Ex-Im Bank) operations. The bill is…
NewsMax
CFPB’s Kraninger Catching Flak—and Hitting Her Targets
An anonymous World War II bomber pilot may be the source of the saying, “If you’re not catching flak, you’re not hitting your target.” But today, the…
Blog
Export-Import Bank Reauthorization Update
It is busy a time right now in the Export-Import Bank reauthorization battle. Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) introduced a new bill to reauthorize the Export-Import…
Blog
Celebrate Consumer Finance Law Modernization
Earlier this month, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced that it will create a taskforce to “harmonize and modernize federal consumer financial laws.” The Taskforce…
Blog
In Praise of Pro-Consumer Tenure of Finance Regulator Kraninger
As she prepares to give her semi-annual testimony to Congress this week—on Wednesday to the House Financial Services Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and on Thursday…
Letters
CEI Joins Coalition Letter in Support of the Secure and Fair Enforcement Banking Act of 2019
We are heartened by the committee’s decision to host a hearing on challenges to cannabis banking. In particular, we have the hearing brings attention to…
Blog
Like Socialism, Financial Transaction Tax Doomed to Fail
In The Wealth of Nations, Adam Smith coins the four maxims of taxation: fairness, certainty, convenience, and efficiency. Smith’s maxims are used as a litmus…
Blog
Feds: Gambling Fine, But Investing Too Risky
“In the risk reform debate, as in so many political debates, logic is often for losers.” So lamented Competitive Enterprise Institute founder and president emeritus…
Blog
Protect Consumers, But Let Debt Collectors Do Their Jobs
Debt collector seem to be the occupation everyone loves to hate, but without them businesses large and small—from banks to gyms to doctor’s offices—could not serve…
Blog
Ex-Im Bank Reauthorization: Lesson in Institutional Design
For all its flaws, the Export-Import Bank’s charter gets an important thing right: the agency must be reauthorized every few years, or it will close.
Comment
CEI Comments Before the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection on Proposed Rule on Debt Collection Practices
Thanks to the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection’s extension of its deadline to comment on the proposed rule on debt collection practices, we take this…
Blog
Export-Import Bank Fight Not Over Yet
The Export-Import Bank’s charter is currently set to expire on September 30. If authorization lapses, the agency will shut down. On Thursday, the House passed…
Blog
Ex-Im Bank Reauthorization: Major Victory against Cronyism, Despite Setback
Nobel laureate economist Ronald Coase wrote in his 1975 essay “Economists and Public Policy” that “An economist who, by his efforts, is able to postpone…
Blog
Reform Proposal Addresses Cronyism in Government-Backed Mortgages
Earlier this year, the Trump administration issued an executive memorandum directing the Department of the Treasury to “develop a plan for administrative and legislative reforms” of…
Blog
Study on Export-Import Bank: Repeal Is Best, Other Reforms Can Help
The Export-Import Bank is up for reauthorization by September 30. It should be shut down, as I’ve pointed out before, but reauthorization will almost certainly…
Study
How the Ex-Im Bank Enables Cronyism and Wastes Taxpayer Money
The U.S. Export-Import Bank (Ex-Im) is a federal agency that seeks to boost exports by private U.S. businesses. It pursues its mission through loan guarantees,…
Blog
Welfare for Billionaires: Stadium Subsidies Are Pure Cronyism
Our old friend (and former Competitive Enterprise Institute journalism fellow) Tim Carney is doing excellent work at the American Enterprise Institute these days, where he…
News Release
GSE Reform Proposal a Positive Step Towards Reducing Government Role in Housing Finance
The Treasury Department today released a proposal aimed at reforming Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, both Government Sponsored Entities or "GSEs." According to the proposal,…
Blog
Marijuana Industry Bank Reform on Capitol Hill Agenda
While the continued legalization of recreational and medicinal use of marijuana at the state level has undoubtedly been a win for liberty, there remains much…
Blog
Debt Collectors Keep Credit Market Flowing
Debt collecting is a profession that gets little love, but given the social good done by debt collectors who operate ethically and follow the rules,…
Comment
CEI Comments on CFPB Proposed Rule on Debt Collection Practice
On behalf of the Competitive Enterprise Institute (“CEI"), we are pleased to provide the following comment letter on the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection’s (“Bureau”…
The Washington Times
Trump’s Tariff Delay on China Eases Christmas Worries, Sends Markets Higher
The Washington Times cites Senior Fellow Ryan Young on tariffs: Ryan Young, a senior fellow at the free market Competitive Enterprise Institute, said…
The Kevin Miller Show
Kevin Miller 6am 080819
CEI President and CEO Kent Lassman joined the Kevin Miller Show to discuss the state of the economy.
News Release
Federal Reserve’s FedNow Payments Processing System Illegal and Misguided
The Federal Reserve today announced plans to set up a payment processing system called “FedNow.”…
