Regulatory Innovation Award goes to Cass Sunstein

Cass Sunstein, Administrator of the US Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, has been named this year's recipient of the Burton Foundation's annual Regulatory Innovation Award. Morrison & Foerster established this award in 2008 through the Burton Foundation to honor an academic or non-elected public official whose innovative ideas have made a significant contribution to the discourse on regulatory reform. The independent panel of academics, practitioners and financial journalists named Mr. Sunstein for his commitment to understanding the nature of regulation and the role of incentives in formulating successful regulations. He has been overseing the review of new regulation offered by executive branch agencies to ensure that benefits outweigh the costs. With Richard Thaler, Mr. Sunstein is the author of Nudge, an influential book discussing the relationship between human behavior, decision making, and regulation (click for more)
Last year's award went to Mr. Eddy Wymeersch, until recently the Chairman of the Committee of European Securities Regulators, "well known for his successful efforts toward the establishment of the first pan-European regulatory authority (ESMA). He has been an articulate and unrelenting advocate of greater international cooperation to deal with the challenges created by the financial crisis, including the creation of the Financial Stability Board by the G20. He has also served as Chairman of the Banking Finance and Insurance Commission, which is Belgium’s integrated financial regulator, and is currently Chairman of the Public Interest Oversight Board, which is in charge of overseeing the auditing standards boards."