Symposium signals bureau’s attraction to regulating by cost-benefit analysis

The use of cost-benefit analysis in consumer financial protection regulation – something apparently under consideration by the federal consumer financial protection agency – is the focus of a symposium set for July 29 via webcast, the agency said Wednesday.

In a release, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) indicated that the event – which gets underway at 9:30 a.m. – is part of the agency’s effort to consider how to employ cost-benefit analysis as it develops regulation. The agency said the symposium would look at “developments in the cost-benefit analysis arena” and that the agency would also consider “lessons that may be useful as it nears the start of its second decade of work.”

Two panel discussions will be held during the event, the bureau said. The first will discuss how the agency should use cost-benefit analysis in developing consumer financial regulations. It will also consider, the CFPB said, whether the agency’s practices “provide the proper incentives for the best use and reporting of cost-benefit analysis.”

The second panel will discuss the methodology of cost-benefit analysis for consumer financial regulation. “The panel may also consider the data and economic models that should be developed for cost-benefit analysis of consumer financial regulation, how to address distributional concerns, and how to partner with others in this work,” the bureau said.

CFPB Director Kathleen Kraninger also plans to address the symposium.

CFPB to Host Symposium July 29