WASHINGTON (3/21/13)--The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is planning to reach out to financial institutions to study the extent and nature of compliance costs, and, ultimately, to increase public understanding of those costs.

"Regulations can have many benefits for consumers, but the benefits sometimes come at a cost," CFPB Division of Research, Markets & Regulation Deputy Associate Director Dan Sokolov wrote in a Wednesday blog post. "Banks, credit unions, and other financial services providers are concerned with compliance costs--how much it costs to comply with financial regulations--and we're interested as well," Sokolov added.

The Credit Union National Association has reached out to CFPB on this issue. CUNA's recent exam survey included questions on credit unions' top regulatory concerns, and the Filene Research Institute is conducting its own study of U.S. and Canadian credit union regulatory burdens, CUNA Deputy General Counsel Mary Dunn noted.

Sokolov said the CFPB's Research, Markets, and Regulations team is studying the costs related to rules the bureau took on from other regulators, and plans to speak with financial institutions to detail the costs institutions incur to comply with consumer regulations for deposit products and services.

The bureau will examine costs related to checking accounts, debit cards and other products. "Through our research, we hope to become better and smarter regulators," Sokolov wrote.

Debt collectors are one group that has recently been added to the list of financial market participants that are subject to CFPB oversight.

The CFPB on Jan. 2 began supervising debt collection agencies with more than $10 million in annual receipts, and the agency on Wednesday delivered an annual report to Congress on the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA).

The CFPB report addresses consumer complaints about debt collectors, and the bureau's response to those complaints, as well as the CFPB's supervision of debt collection activities. Enforcement activities, education, outreach, research and policy initiatives, and the cooperative efforts of the CFPB and the Federal Trade Commission are also covered in the report.

For the full CFPB report, use the resource link.