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Senators Should Reject Comptroller of Currency Nominee Saule Omarova
WASHINGTON – In a hearing today, Senators on the Banking Committee will consider the nomination of Saule Omarova to be Comptroller of the…
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President Biden Signs Problematic Crypto Provisions into Law
WASHINGTON – President Joe Biden signed the bipartisan infrastructure bill into law today, including more than one trillion dollars in government spending. In addition…
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CEI Experts Weigh In on Reconciliation Framework Agreed to by White House and Congressional Democrats
WASHINGTON – The White House and congressional democrats announced agreement on a “framework” for a reconciliation bill that will spend nearly $2 trillion and…
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Senate Should Weigh Disturbing Writings of Biden’s CFPB Nominee and Reform Unaccountable Agency
Today the Senate is expected to vote on President Biden’s nominee to head the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Rohit Chopra. CEI Senior Fellow…
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China Cryptocurrency Ban A Lesson For US: CEI statement
China’s plans to ban private cryptocurrency is terrible but also offers a lesson and opportunity for US policymakers, says Competitive Enterprise Institute financial policy…
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Senate-Passed Infrastructure Bill Is a Gigantic, Counterproductive Spending Bill: CEI Analysis
The Senate today passed a complicated, controversial $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill. CEI policy experts criticized the mammoth bill as a plan that will…
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CEI Experts React to President Biden’s Wide-Ranging Executive Order on Competition
President Joe Biden signed an Executive Order on Promoting Competition in the American Economy today, which the White House claims is aimed at…
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House Should Be True to America’s Credit Need and Reject Anti-True Lender Resolution
The House is expected to vote soon on a resolution that would un-do a valuable Trump-era deregulatory rule called the “True Lender” rule. CEI…
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Mark Calabria Had Excellent Stewardship of Fannie, Freddie While at Federal Housing Finance Agency
On news today that President Biden is replacing Trump appointee Mark Calabria as head of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), which oversees government-sponsored…
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House Judiciary Committee Antitrust Bills Would Compromise U.S. as Global Leader on Tech and Harm Consumers
Several antitrust bills were introduced today by members of the House Judiciary Committee, including the “American Innovation and Choice Online Act,” the “Platform Competition…
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House Financial Services Committee Should Look for Ways to Empower Middle Class Investors Post-Gamestop Controversy
A House Financial Services Committee hearing revisits GameStop-Robinhood-Reddit controversy from February, in which ordinary retail investors – fueled by social media-platforms – bested hedge…
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House-passed SAFE Banking Act Would End Federal Threat to Banks Dealing with Legal Cannabis Businesses
The House has passed a bill allowing banks to do business with cannabis companies, the SAFE Banking Act. While Senate action on the…
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Regulators Should Let Cryptocurrency Firms Follow in Coinbase Footsteps
The successful cryptocurrency exchange platform Coinbase is poised to go public on April 14 amid high anticipation. CEI Senior Fellow John Berlau urges…
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Report: APR Calculation Misleading as Applied to Short-Term Loan Costs
A new Competitive Enterprise Institute report criticizes efforts by lawmakers and activists to impose a cap on small-dollar, short-term loans based on a…
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Senate Should Question Biden SEC, CFPB Nominees About Needed Constraints on Regulators
Today, the Senate Banking Committee is considering President Biden’s nomination of both Gary Gensler to head the SEC and Rohit Chopra to head the…
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House Hearing on Robinhood/GameStop Controversy Should Focus on Helping, Not Restricting Investors
On February 18 (tomorrow), the House Financial Services Committee will hold a hearing on the recent Robinhood-GameStop controversy. CEI Senior Fellow John Berlau…
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CEI Praises Biden Decision Suspending ‘Fair Access’ Banking Rule
President Biden’s Office of the Comptroller of the Currency today announced that it was halting publication of a final banking rule, pending review. The…
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Senate Should Question Biden’s Choice to Head CFPB, Rohit Chopra, on Fair Process for Regulating Businesses
The Senate should question President-elect Biden’s nominee to head the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau out of concern that businesses get fair treatment in the…
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New Bank Fair Access Rule Will Cause Costly State of Uncertainty, Red Tape
Today the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, an independent bureau within the United States Department of the Treasury, finalized a new…
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Biden’s SEC Pick Should Focus on Commission’s Core Mission, Not Political Causes: CEI Experts
President-elect Biden is reportedly set to select Gary Gensler to head the Securities and Exchange Commission. Gensler is a current MIT professor who previously…
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CFPB Taskforce Offers Recommendations to Help Consumers, Fintech Firms
In response to a new report from the CFPB Taskforce on Federal Consumer Financial Law, CEI Senior Fellow John Berlau praised recommendations aimed at…
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CFPB Makes Needed Changes to Qualified Mortgage Rules
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau today issued final rules related to qualified mortgage loans, which require lenders to determine at the onset that…
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Corporate Transparency Act Threatens Small Businesses, Privacy Rights
The House today is expected to pass a controversial bill impacting a wide swath of American businesses, as part of the must-pass National Defense…
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Comptroller Plan to Impose ‘Fairness Doctrine’ for Banks Goes Against Freedom of Association
CEI Senior Fellow John Berlau criticized a proposal by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) to impose a “fairness…
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New CEI Report Finds Bipartisan Embrace of Harmful, Interventionist Tech Policies
Neither major political party holds a monopoly on bad ideas when it comes to federal policy towards the technology sector, according to…
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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.
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Repeal #NeverNeeded Regulations Hindering Use of Tech at Home During Deadly Pandemic
The COVID-19 crisis has severely tested individuals and businesses, making access to technologies and services that enabled large swaths of the American economy to move…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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. …
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Libra Cryptocurrency Progress May Aid COVID-19 Economic Recovery
The Libra Association today announced progress made on modifying its Facebook-developed cryptocurrency and payment system to meet regulatory concerns.
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…
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CEI Experts Blast Attempts to Politicize COVID-19 Relief Bill
While the nation suffers, Washington has descended into an unseemly squabble over the latest COVID-19 relief bill. Politicians from all quarters are attempting to expand…
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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…
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House Hearing on Proposed Cryptocurrency Premature, Focus Should Be on Regulatory Barriers to Innovation
Ahead of a House Financial Services Committee hearing focused on Libra, a new cryptocurrency proposed by Facebook and other entities, Competitive Enterprise Institute experts John…
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Supreme Court to Hear Lawsuit on CFPB Unconstitutionality: CEI Statements
On news today that the United States Supreme Court will hear a constitutional challenge to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, CEI experts said they were…
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Court Ruling Curtails Government Power in Fannie/Freddie Case
Competitive Enterprise Institute General Counsel Sam Kazman praised a Friday, Sept. 6 ruling by the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit related…
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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,…
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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.”…
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Banks, Credit Unions Should Not Be Threatened for Doing Business with Cannabis Industry
Cannabis businesses have real trouble securing banking services, due to the fact their product remains illegal under federal law. Today the Senate Banking Committee held…
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Heavy-Handed Regulations Could Deny Consumers the Benefits of New Facebook Cryptocurrency
The House Financial Services Committee will hold a hearing todayfocused on Facebook’s new cryptocurrency, “Libra.” The hearing will consider the cryptocurrency’s impact on consumers, investors and…
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Mnuchin Pushes Discredited Arguments Against Cryptocurrency
On news today that Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin warned against Facebook’s proposed digital currency, Libra, as a national security risk and potential boon to “money…
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Senate Bill Targets Big Tech but Empowers Regulators over Consumers or Investors
Senate lawmakers Mark Warner (D-VA) and Josh Hawley (R-MO) have a new bill to force Big Tech firms (like Facebook, Google, and Amazon) to calculate…
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Regulators Should Let Consumers and Merchants Decide the Fate of Facebook’s Cryptocurrency
Facebook, Inc. today released a white paper outlining plans to launch a new cryptocurrency named “Libra.” According to the white paper, Libra would be built…
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SEC Threatens Access to Cryptocurrency and Other Digital Goods
The Competitive Enterprise Institute today released a report warning that government regulation of cryptocurrency as a “security” threatens innovation in financial transactions and other consumer…
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Senate Plan to Reform Mortgage Giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac Would Make Things Worse for Taxpayers, Consumers
Senate Banking Committee chairman Mike Crapo released a proposal today to reform mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, but the plan creates a big…
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CEI Commends Trump Nominee to Oversee Housing Finance Agency
President Trump has nominated economist Mark Calabria to head the agency in charge of supervising government-sponsored mortgage loan buyers Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The…
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CEI Hopes New Director of Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection Will Continue Tough-But-Fair Approach to Regulation
Competitive Enterprise Institute Senior Fellow John Berlau praised today’s Senate confirmation of President Trump’s nominee to head the powerful Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection (BCFP)…
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Senate Should Confirm Trump Nominee for Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection: CEI Statements
This week, the United States Senate is expected to vote on President Trump’s nominee to head the powerful Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection. CEI financial…