Office of Financial Research 

Program Summary by Budget Activity 

Dollars in Thousands 

 FY 2019 FY 2020 FY 2021 FY 2020 to 

FY 2021 

Budget Activity Actual Estimate Estimate % Change 

Data Center $5,849 $3,499 $3,575 2.17% 

Technology Center $28,278 $34,450 $35,986 4.46% 

Research and Analysis Center $8,238 $14,111 $14,290 1.27% 

Operations and Support Services $17,496 $23,211 $21,420 -7.72% 

Total Cost of Operations $59,861 $75,271 $75,271 0.00% 

Full-time Equivalents (FTE) 105 128 145 13.28% 

Summary 

The OFR was established by the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act 

of 2010 to assist the Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC) and Congress through 

research, analytic tools, and data-related support on issues related to financial stability. The 

OFR’s efforts, focused through consultation with the FSOC, the Department of the Treasury, and 

other important stakeholders, drives towards a vision of a transparent, accountable, and resilient 

financial system. 

The Office of Financial Research (OFR or Office) is estimating a fiscal year (FY) 2021 funding 

level of $75.271 million, which is flat with its FY 2020 estimated funding level. The request 

supports OFR priorities without the need for increased funding. The shifts in the FY 2021 

Budget from Operations and Support towards Technology Center, Data Center, and Research 

and Analysis Center (RAC) will allow the OFR to focus on its legislative mandate under the 

Dodd-Frank Act. The budget reflects an FTE level of 145, which aligns with the workforce plan 

that formed the basis for OFR’s recent Reduction in Force (RIF) and seeks to ensure appropriate 

structure for maximum efficiency. 

Budget Highlights 

Dollars in Thousands 

 FTE Amount 

FY 2020 Estimate 128 $75,271 

Changes to Base: 

Program Increases: 17 $2,155 

Increased Staffing 17 $2,155 

Non-Recurring Costs 0 ($2,155) 

Subtotal Changes to Base 17 $0 

FY 2021 Current Services 145 $75,271 

Program Changes: 

Subtotal Changes to Base 0 $0 

FY 2021 Estimate 145 $75,271 
Budget Adjustments 

Program Increases ....................................................................................+$2,155,000 / +17 FTE 

Increased Staffing +$2,155,000 / +17 FTE 

In the wake of higher than anticipated attrition rates after the RIF conducted in FY 2019, 17 

FTEs are returned in the FY 2021 request relative to FY 2020. OFR will continue to fill positions 

that OFR identified pre-RIF as critical to the OFR’s future state and will fill critical vacancies 

created by attrition. 

Non-Recurring Costs .................................................................................... -$2,155,000 / -0 FTE 

Non-Recurring Costs -$2,155,000 / -0 FTE 

One-time costs related to post-RIF contractor staffing and space reconfiguration, as well as 

certain technology support costs, will non-recur. 

Legislative Proposals 

The Budget proposes to impose appropriate Congressional oversight of OFR functions by 

subjecting its activities to the annual appropriations process beginning in FY 2022. 

Performance Highlights FY 2017 FY 2018 FY 2019 FY 2020 FY 2021 

Budget Activity Performance Measure Actual Actual Actual Target Target 

Data Center 

Number of LEIs Issued 

Cumulatively in the United States 

and Internationally 

 587,941 1,300,832 1,487,695 I I 

Data Center 

Number of Times That Financial 

Data Standards are Incorporated in 

Rules and Regulations 

4 1 1 I I 

Key: I – Indicator 

Description of Performance 

During FY 2019, the number of Legal Entity Identifiers (LEIs) issued continued its upward 

trend, increasing by approximately 14 percent from the prior year. The Data Center will 

continue its strategy of engagement with financial data standards-setting organizations. In 

addition, for FY 2019, the OFR was directly responsible for incorporating a financial data 

standard into a rule or regulation: the OFR passed a final rule to collect repurchase agreements 

(repo) data that includes the reporting of LEIs. 

In addition to its LEI work, the OFR is continuing its work on a phased-in collection of data 

pursuant to a final rule regarding U.S. centrally-cleared repos, which represents the OFR’s first 

daily data collection. The Technology Center will continue to operationalize the daily 

collection processes, including validation and transformation of the collected data to support 

business uses. This budget request provides for the needed capacity and capabilities to support 

this critical daily collection. 

The OFR is also focusing on engaging with FSOC and others to drive its research agenda and to 

help identify the tools needed for risk monitoring. The Research and Analysis Center will also 

work on enhancing its existing monitoring tools. Throughout FY 2020 and FY 2021, the 

Research and Analysis Center will continue its direct work for the FSOC Secretariat, providing 

support for its annual report to Congress in the form of research, analysis, and other resources. 
The Center will contribute to the FSOC’s transition to an activities-based approach for the nonbank designation process and will continue to respond to specific requests for research and 

analysis as needed. In 2020, the OFR has introduced two new measures which reflect its focus 

on meeting the FSOC’s research and analysis needs and its priority around risk monitoring tools: 

1) the percent of monitors updated or expanded during the reporting period and 2) timeliness of 

responses to FSOC research and analysis requests.