The Board's economists conduct research and data collection and perform analyses of developments in the marketplace that may have implications for consumers. For example, economists reviewed available data on market mortgage pricing and performance to help the Board determine the appropriate metric and threshold to be used in defining which home loans would be subject to the Home Ownership and Equity Protection Act rules.
Research economists also play a central role in assuring the integrity of data made available to the public by the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC) 5 under the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) and the regulations that implement the Community Reinvestment Act. Economists review the data for quality assurance and provide analytic assessments of the data each year.