The SEC Regulatory Accountability Act requires the Securities and Exchange Commission to conduct thorough cost-benefit analyses before proposing new financial regulations. The bill mandates that the SEC identify the specific problems regulations address, clearly identify which market participants will be affected, and use the agency's Chief Economist to assess both quantitative and qualitative costs and benefits. The SEC can only issue regulations if it determines that benefits justify costs and must explain why the chosen approach is better than alternatives considered, including doing nothing. For major rules, the SEC must establish a post-implementation assessment plan within four years to measure whether the regulation accomplished its stated goals, track job impacts, and identify any unintended consequences, with findings published for public comment. The bill also extends similar requirements to the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board and national securities associations, and encourages the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board to follow the same standards.
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