In a letter to the Chairs of the SEC and CFTC, House Financial Services Committee Chair Spencer Bachus (R-Ala) asked for information on the costs to each agency of implementing Dodd-Frank regulations and the annual execution of Dodd-Frank mandates. Specifically, the Chair asked for the amount of their FY 2011 budget request and how much that differs from the FY 2010 budget request, and estimates for the FY2012 budget request. The Chairman asks how much of these budget amounts is attributable to the execution of Dodd-Frank. He also wants to know what each agency has budgeted to implement Dodd-Frank and what percent of the full budget this represents. The same letter was also sent to the FDIC and the Fed and Professor Elizabeth Warren, who is assisting Treasury in setting up the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection. The agencies must respond to the Chairman’s request by Feb. 10, 2011.
The Chair also asks how many new staff members the SEC and CFTC plan to hire to carry out the Dodd-Frank mandates and how many hires have been made since the passage of the Act on July 21, 2010. Also, the committee wants to know what contracts have been entered into since passage to purchase new equipment, lease office space or hire new consultants. The agencies must also disclose any managerial changes and plans and mission statements they have made to implement and maintain Dodd-Frank.
Chairman Bachus also wants to know what fees the Commissions plan to impose or increase to increase funding. Noting that Dodd-Frank mandates the creation of new offices and divisions, the Chair wants information on plans to create these new offices, the number of employees needed to staff them, and the funding needs of