Treasury's first report on regulatory reform, released Monday afternoon, recommends that Congress reduce fragmentation, overlap and duplication in federal regulation by, among other measures, consolidating regulators with "similar missions" and more clearly defining their regulatory mandates.
The report also argues that the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act has "increased the burden of regulatory compliance without adequate cost-benefit analysis" and that Dodd-Frank has "prolonged the moral hazard arising from regulations that could lead to taxpayer-funded bailouts."
Increased accountability for all regulators — including the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau — should be achieved through "oversight by an appointed board or commission, or in the case of a director-led agency, appropriate control and oversight by the executive branch, including the right of removal at will by the president," the report states.
The CFPB is a director-led agency, and Republicans have long been pushing to reduce the power of its director.
Treasury recommends that Congress expand the Financial Stability Oversight Council's authority "to play a larger role in the coordination and direction of regulatory and supervisory policies," including granting FSOC the authority to appoint a "lead regulator on any issue on which multiple agencies may have conflicting and overlapping regulatory jurisdiction."
Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., who helped set up the CFPB, chided the Treasury for recommending to weaken the agency.
