Dodd-Frank News Center

Budd and Mooney call for eliminating Office of Financial Research

This story appeared in Bank Digest.                                     

Representatives Ted Budd (R-NC) and Alex Mooney (R-WVa) are calling for the Office of Financial Research to be closed. In a statement, Budd said, "The OFR is supposed to forecast financial markets through data collection and market patterns to best inform lawmakers in order to avert a financial crisis. However, this 'one world view' of the financial system has had disastrous consequences. My biggest fear surrounds the OFR's unbridled ability to collect data and spending habits of everyday Americans--while also having the power to subpoena banks for individual loan information, without going to court." 

He added that there are a number of other "federal divisions, departments, committees and bureaus" that can collect and analyze the same data the OFR collects and that eliminating the OFR "will result in one less redundant federal division."

Emmer reintroduces Financial Stability Oversight Council Reform Act

This story appeared in Bank Digest.

Representative Tom Emmer (R-Minn) has reintroduced the Financial Stability Oversight Council Reform Act (H.R. 1459), which is intended to increase oversight, transparency, and accountability by subjecting the FSOC to the congressional appropriations process. Emmer's press release said the bill would give Congress the power to approve the budget for the FSOC and the Office of Financial Research, create quarterly reporting requirements for the OFR, and require the OFR to provide at least a 90-day public notice and comment period before issuing any report, rule, or regulation.

According to Emmer, "A recent review conducted by the Financial Services Committee highlighted the 'arbitrary and inconsistent' nature of the FSOC's actions and reiterated the need for improved oversight and review of our federal regulators."

Viewpoint paper discusses central counterparties

This story appeared in Bank Digest.

The Office of Finance Research has posted a Viewpoint paper entitled "New Public Disclosures Shed Light on Central Counterparties." The Viewpoint indicates that reforms after the financial crisis promoted the use of central counterparties, or CCPs, which stand between the two parties to a derivatives contract. According to new data, CCPs hold enough resources to handle the failure of two members, and those resources are highly liquid and of high credit quality. Still, data gaps remain.

OFR’s Berner speaks at credit market conference in New York

This story appeared in Bank Digest.

The Office of Financial Research has posted remarks by Director Richard Berner on May 24, 2016, at a conference in New York City on "New Research and Outlook on Credit Markets" hosted by S&P Global Market Intelligence, New York University Salomon Center and Stern School of Business, and S&P Global Institute. In his prepared remarks, Berner focused on credit risk, discussing how the OFR measures and monitors credit and other risks, the interplay between credit and other types of risk, and some of the tools policymakers might use to mitigate those risks.

Berner also discussed financial stability; volatility, leverage, and credit risk; and credit risk in banks and nonbanks.

OFR releases paper on financial regulatory data collections as part of new series

This story appeared in Bank Digest.

The Office of Financial Research has released its first paper in a new Viewpoint Series, as well as an accompanying blog post by OFR Director Richard Berner. Unlike other OFR paper series, the OFR Viewpoint Series offers the views and opinions of the OFR.

The current paper offers guidelines for collecting comprehensive, high-quality, and interoperable data for financial stability analysis, market monitoring, and policymaking. The paper also identifies pitfalls that financial regulators may encounter.

OFR issues working paper on crisis liquidity dynamics

This story appeared in Bank Digest.

The Office of Financial Research has released a working paper entitled "An Agent-based Model for Crisis Liquidity Dynamics" and an accompanying blog post by Greg Feldberg, OFR Acting Deputy Director for Research and Analysis. The paper presents an agent-based model for examining price impacts and liquidity dynamics during financial crises, which are often characterized by sharp reductions in liquidity followed by cascades of falling prices. The model highlights the implications of changes in market makers' ability to provide intermediation services and the decision cycles of liquidity demanders versus liquidity suppliers during a crisis.

 

 

OIG issues audit report on FSOC and OFR data requests

This story appeared in Bank Digest.

The Treasury Department's Office of Inspector General has issued an audit report entitled "FSOC and OFR Data Requests Are Not Duplicative." The report presents the results of the OIG's review of data reporting required by the Financial Stability Oversight Council and the Office of Financial Research. The OIG conducted the review in response to the House Report 113-508 on the Financial Services and General Government Appropriations Bill, 2015. The OIG was directed to investigate whether the data reporting required by the FSOC and OFR was duplicative of data required by other regulators and burdensome.

The OIG found that data reporting required or requested by the FSOC and OFR was not duplicative of data required by the primary financial regulatory agencies, or burdensome for financial companies, and that the FSOC and OFR followed applicable guidance on requesting data directly from a financial company.

OFR and Cleveland Fed invite papers for Financial Stability Conference

This story appeared in Bank Digest.

The Office of Financial Research and the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland are inviting the submission of research and policy-oriented papers for the 2015 Financial Stability Conference, which will be held Dec. 3-4, 2015, in Washington, D.C. The title of the conference is "Financial Stability: Policy Analysis and Data Needs." According to the OFR's release, the objectives of the conference are to highlight research and advance the dialogue on data requirements for macroprudential policy development and implementation, and to disseminate recent advances in systemic risk measurement and forecasting tools.

The conference will include two types of discussion: research forums and policy discussions. Key conference themes will include macroprudential policy analysis, data measurement and gaps, and systemic risks in nonbank financial firms. The deadline for submission of papers (or a detailed abstract) is Sept. 30, 2015.

OFR updates financial stability risk assessment

This story appeared in Bank Digest.

The Office of Financial Research has issued an update to its assessment of threats to financial stability, concluding that overall risks remain moderate. OFR Director Richard Berner said, however, that this assessment "should not be cause for complacency" because the agency's "analysis suggests the need to remain vigilant about emerging threats." These threats include increased risk taking in a climate of persistently low interest rates, fragile and fragmented market liquidity in some securities markets, and continued migration of financial activity outside the banking system, according to the OFR's announcement

The agency formed its assessment using updates to the OFR Financial Stability Monitor and the monitor's underlying data. The monitor is a tool the OFR developed to display a high-level summary of five areas of risk. The latest version of the monitor can found on the agency's website at financialresearch.gov/. The OFR has also published a companion analysis paper discussing specific risks that merit attention.

OFR issues brief on bank capital relief trades

This story appeared in Bank Digest.

The Office of Financial Research has issued a brief entitled, "More Transparency Needed For Bank Capital Relief Trades," by Jill Cetina, John McDonough, and Sriram Rajan. According to the brief, banks have significant incentives to reduce their required regulatory capital by transferring credit risk to third parties. But public data needed to analyze such activities are scant. One exception is that banks now report the use of credit derivatives for regulatory capital relief. This activity recently totaled $38 billion in notional value for 18 banks. The authors found the median bank engaging in these transactions could have improved its risk-based capital ratio by 8 to 38 basis points, and one by as much as 388 basis points. However, this analysis was incomplete, relying on just one vehicle for measurement, and more data were needed.