WASHINGTON — A Treasury Department official said Thursday that a new research office created by the Dodd-Frank Act to assist federal monitoring of systemic risks has made "significant progress," despite the lack of a permanent director.
Richard Berner, a counselor to Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, told members of a House Financial Services subcommittee that the new Office of Financial Research is "working diligently to satisfy its statutory mandates and mission."
Those duties include collecting data on market risks for the Financial Stability Oversight Council, another Dodd-Frank creation that is charged with responding to systemic threats.
Berner said Dodd-Frank authorizes Geithner to direct the office's activities without a director in place, and other staff positions for the research operation are being filled.
"The search for an OFR Director is ongoing," Berner said in prepared remarks to the subcommittee on oversight and investigations.
"In the meantime, the high level of talent among the first employees of the OFR is an important measure of our progress. We are hiring professionals with deep industry experience in data management, technology, and risk management to establish the OFR Data Center, the organization's operations arm."
