Office of Financial Research
The Office of Financial Research was created within the Department of Treasury to manage data in an evolving financial industry.

Under Dodd-Frank, the OFR will set standards for financial reporting and improve the quality of data that supervisors and other market participants use to manage risk, Treasury Deputy Secretary Neal Wolin told the Senate Banking Committee.

The "unusually strong powers" of Office of Financial Research to obtain confidential information has led some lobbyists to dub it the "CIA of financial regulators," notes Businessweek.

Some say the new office will create a reporting burden for banks, writes Jonathan Hightower of Bryan Cave. Not to mention the extra costs associated with additional reporting. Another concern is whether or not "a central committee of unelected bureaucrats would be qualified to judge what's right and what's wrong for the economy," notes a Washington Times editorial.

The OFR, which will promote the sharing of existing data among other federal agencies, is not yet established.

Federal Insurance Office
The Federal Insurance Office will be housed within the Department of Treasury. Lacking regulatory authority, the office will monitor all facets of the insurance industry, excepting health insurance. It is tasked with coordinating industry policy, as well as coordinating international insurance concerns.

In addition, "the office may receive and collect data and information on and from the insurance industry and insurers; enter into information-sharing agreements; analyze and disseminate data and information; and issue reports," said Treasury Deputy Secretary Wolin.

The office has some insurance execs worried about dual regulation, as the industry is largely state-regulated. "They don't want to be regulated both at the state level and the federal government level," said a professor with Indiana State University's Scott College of Business

The new agency is still in the preliminary stages of establishment. Insurance industry leaders have until October 20 to apply for FIO Director.