[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 51 (Thursday, March 18, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 14734-14735]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-05315]


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BUREAU OF CONSUMER FINANCIAL PROTECTION


Renewal of Academic Research Council

AGENCY: Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection (Bureau), after 
consultation with the Committee Management Secretariat of the General 
Services Administration, will renew the Academic Research Council (the 
committee or the ARC) effective on March 18, 2021. The ARC will provide 
the Bureau with advice about its strategic research planning process 
and research agenda, including views on the research that the Bureau 
should conduct relating to consumer financial products or services, 
consumer behavior, cost-benefit analysis, or other topics to enable the 
agency to further its statutory purposes and objectives; and, provide

[[Page 14735]]

the Office of Research with technical advice and feedback on research 
methodologies, data collection strategies, and methods of analysis, 
including methodologies and strategies for quantifying the costs and 
benefits of regulatory actions.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Manny Ma[ntilde][oacute]n, Staff 
Director, Advisory Board and Councils Section, Office of Stakeholder 
Management, Consumer Education and External Affairs Division, at 202-
435-9830, or [email protected]. If you require this document in 
an alternative electronic format, please contact 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In accordance with the provisions of the 
Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA) (5 U.S.C. App.), the Bureau 
hereby gives notice of renewal of the Academic Research Council. The 
ARC is a discretionary committee being renewed for the purposes of 
compliance with FACA. This committee is being renewed concurrently with 
the publication of this notice by filing a charter with the Acting 
Director of the Bureau, the Committee Management Secretariat of the 
General Services Administration, the Library of Congress, the Committee 
on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of the United States Senate, and 
the Committee on Financial Services of the United States House of 
Representatives. The charter will also be posted on the Bureau's 
website at www.consumerfinance.gov. This charter will expire two years 
after the filing date unless renewed by appropriate action.
    The ARC will (1) provide the Bureau with advice about its strategic 
research planning process and research agenda, including views on the 
research that the Bureau should conduct relating to consumer financial 
products or services, consumer behavior, cost-benefit analysis, or 
other topics to enable the agency to further its statutory purposes and 
objectives; and, (2) provide the Office of Research with technical 
advice and feedback on research methodologies, data collection 
strategies, and methods of analysis, including methodologies and 
strategies for quantifying the costs and benefits of regulatory 
actions. The duties of the ARC are solely advisory and shall extend 
only to the submission of advice and recommendations to the Bureau. No 
determination of fact or policy will be made by the committee or its 
individual members, and the committee will have no formal decision-
making role. The Bureau posts meeting minutes from the public advisory 
committee meetings on its website.
    In appointing members to the committee, the Director shall seek to 
assemble members who are economic experts and academics with diverse 
points of view such as experienced economists with a strong research 
and publishing or practitioner background, and a record of involvement 
in research and public policy, including public or academic service. 
Additionally, members should be prominent experts who are recognized 
for their professional achievements and rigorous economic analysis 
including those specializing in household finance, finance, financial 
education, labor economics, industrial organization, public economics, 
and law and economics; and experts from related social sciences related 
to the Bureau's mission. In particular, the Director will seek to 
identify academics with strong methodological and technical expertise 
in structural or reduced form econometrics; modeling of consumer 
decision-making; survey and random controlled trial methods; cost-
benefit analysis: Welfare economics and program evaluation; or 
marketing.
    The ARC shall consist of at least seven members serving two-year 
terms. All members appointed by the Director shall serve at the 
pleasure of the Director. Equal opportunity practices in accordance 
with the Bureau's policies shall be followed in all appointments to the 
committee.

    Dated: March 10, 2021.
Jocelyn Sutton,
Deputy Chief of Staff, Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection.
[FR Doc. 2021-05315 Filed 3-17-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4810-AM-P