Speaking at the Center for Capital Market Competitiveness’ Financial Regulatory Reform: Past, Present, and Future event at the U.S. Chamber, Sen. Richard Shelby, ranking member of the Senate Banking Committee, discussed how Dodd-Frank is an example of the “danger of legislating in a crisis.”

Becoming law under the shadow of the 2008 financial crisis, the two-year-old Dodd-Frank lacks adequate checks and sensible cost-benefit analysis of its rules, Shelby said.

“Dodd-Frank confers on the director [of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB)] immense power over the economy but fails to provide any effective means of holding the director accountable for his actions,” said Shelby.

To remedy this lack of accountability, Shelby recommends that a board replace a single director at the top of the CFPB, and have it subject to the Congressional appropriations process. Currently the bureau is funded by the Federal Reserve.

Shelby also put major emphasis on requiring regulators to conduct “rigorous, consistent economic analysis” of proposed rules. “No regulation should see the light of day if its cost outweighs its benefits.”