NERA Economist Testifies Before US House of Representatives Committee on Financial Services on Dodd-Frank
31 March 2011
New York -- NERA Economic Consulting Vice President Dr. James Overdahl testified yesterday on The Costs of Implementing the Dodd-Frank Act: Budgetary and Economic before the Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee of the US House of Representatives Committee on Financial Services.
Dr. Overdahl, a former Chief Economist of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), provided his perspective on: guidelines for developing economic analyses in rulemaking at independent agencies, such as the SEC and Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC); the SEC and CFTC's accuracy in predicting the scale of budgetary and economic costs of significant financial market regulations; the extent to which the SEC and CFTC are held accountable for economic analyses; and recommendations for the SEC and CFTC rulemaking procedures to ensure that proposed Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act rules adhere to robust economic analyses.
"Improving the power and consistency of economic analysis at regulatory agencies is important because it will enhance the ability of regulators to make informed decisions," said Dr. Overdahl in his testimony. "An added benefit is that it will also help enhance overall transparency and accountability of the rulemaking process."
"We are pleased that the Committee asked Jim to testify on the central importance of applying robust economic analysis to rulemaking at the SEC and CFTC,” said Dr. Robert Mackay, Chair of NERA's Global Securities and Finance Practice. "A solid foundation in good economics is clearly critical to the huge task of successfully implementing Dodd-Frank’s numerous mandates."
Dr. Overdahl is a Washington, DC-based member of NERA's Securities and Finance Practice. He is an expert on financial regulatory and policy matters, including credit default swaps and other OTC derivatives, OTC clearing, high-frequency trading and related market structure issues, securities lending, short selling, market data fees, credit rating agencies, structured financial products, Sarbanes-Oxley Act provisions regarding internal controls, and new products.
Prior to joining NERA, Dr. Overdahl was Chief Economist and Director of the Office of Economic Analysis for the SEC. He served as principal economic advisor on policy, rulemaking, and litigation support and supervised the SEC's economics program. He is also a former Chief Economist and Director of the Office of the Chief Economist for the US CFTC.
About NERA
NERA Economic Consulting (www.nera.com) is a global firm of experts dedicated to applying economic, finance, and quantitative principles to complex business and legal challenges. For half a century, NERA's economists have been creating strategies, studies, reports, expert testimony, and policy recommendations for government authorities and the world's leading law firms and corporations. We bring academic rigor, objectivity, and real world industry experience to bear on issues arising from competition, regulation, public policy, strategy, finance, and litigation.
NERA's clients value our ability to apply and communicate state-of-the-art approaches clearly and convincingly, our commitment to deliver unbiased findings, and our reputation for quality and independence. Our clients rely on the integrity and skills of our unparalleled team of economists and other experts backed by the resources and reliability of one of the world’s largest economic consultancies. With its main office in New York City, NERA serves clients from more than 20 offices across North America, Europe, and Asia Pacific.
