The Government Accountability Office released a highly anticipated report on the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s data gathering efforts. According to the report, the CFPB undertook 12 large-scale data collections since January 2012 spanning products including mortgages, student loans and credit cards. Although the CFPB has taken steps to secure these data collections, additional efforts are needed to reduce the risk of improper collection, use or release of consumer financial data, the GAO determ...

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau said it has taken steps to better document the factors it considers when determining how to allocate money from its civil penalty fund for consumer education and financial literacy programs. Word of the move came in a Government Accountability Office report on the bureau’s civil penalty fund. 

Attention to potential consumer protection concerns involving Bitcoin and other virtual currencies has intensified in recent months, and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau plans to increase its involvement in the government’s effort to address issues in the space. The CFPB announced those intentions in its response to a report from the Government Accountability Office that urged the bureau to beef up its collaboration with other government agencies working on virtual currency issues.

The Government Accountability Office provided details on two significant internal control deficiencies it identified during an audit of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s financial statements. The GAO found issues with the bureau’s year-end accrual process that resulted in a net understatement of accounts payable, assets and expenses for fiscal year 2013. The bureau also failed to design controls to ensure accurate and complete recording of its property and equipment transactions, the GAO said.

Agencies may not be consistently determining which of their rulemakings qualify as major rules that are subject to congressional scrutiny, according to a Government Accountability Office review of 70 Dodd-Frank rulemakings. The report also weighed the impact of certain Dodd-Frank provisions.

The Government Accountability Office is urging the Securities and Exchange Commission to beef up its internal supervisory controls after the GAO identified numerous deficiencies in controls it tested.

The recent financial crisis may have cost the United States more than $10 trillion in lost output, according to this review of studies conducted by the Government Accountability Office.

the Government Accountability Office said the number and complexity of rulemakings required under the Dodd-Frank Act slowed regulators’ efforts to implement some of the act’s key financial reforms. The report, released on Jan. 23, also noted the efficacy of some of the reforms implemented to date remains unclear.

Federal agencies working to implement provisions of the Dodd-Frank Act generally consider, but typically do not quantify or monetize the benefits associated with their rules, this Government Accountability Office survey determined. The government’s watchdog agency also urged the Financial Stability Oversight Council to work with regulators to establish formal interagency coordination policies for rulemaking.

The government panel charged with identifying risks and responding to emerging threats to financial stability should take steps to clarify its mission and increase accountability, the Government Accountability Office said in this report.