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Unintended consequences and related costs add to the challenges of assessing the benefits and costs of the Dodd-Frank Act, according to experts interviewed by the Government Accountability Office for a report on the act's potential impacts.

The threat of such unintended consequences is one of the concerns NAFCU shares repeatedly with lawmakers and financial regulatory agencies, including NCUA and the CFPB. NAFCU is seeking to slow down the pace of new regulatory burden and to ensure new rules are released and implemented in a more streamlined fashion.

In a report sent to Congress last week, the GAO said it has yet to be able to quantify the costs of implementation of the Dodd-Frank Act. Institutions haven't had the time or the information necessary to come up with good estimates; indeed, regulators have only begun to scratch the surface since many of the law's rules have yet to be implemented or finalized.

These are key points raised in "Financial Crisis Losses and Potential Impacts of the Dodd-Frank Act" (GAO-13-180). In other observations, the GAO said:

• The act "imposes compliance and other costs on financial institutions and restricts their business activities in ways that may affect the provision of financial products and services."
• Financial institutions may respond to the reforms by passing increased costs to customers. "For example, banks could charge more for their loans or other services, which could reduce economic growth," it said.

The report, 99 pages long,is available online.

• GAO-13-180