“The fate of the Dodd-Frank Act’s ban on banks trading for their own accounts — one of the final pieces of the U.S. effort to prevent a repeat of the 2008 financial crisis — may rest with a cluster of economists at the Securities and Exchange Commission.

“The agency’s 50 economists are attempting to calculate the costs and benefits of the so-called Volcker rule, a linchpin of the financial overhaul that would curb the kind of high-stakes proprietary trading that could lead to crippling losses or bailouts at banks like JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM) or Citigroup Inc. (C)

“Court challenges that overturned other Dodd-Frank regulations because of faulty cost-benefit analysis have increased pressure on the SEC economists, led by Craig M. Lewis, a veteran finance professor on leave from Vanderbilt University. Their work may determine whether the rule could withstand a similar lawsuit — an option banks and trade groups say is under consideration.

“The economists are racing the clock: Regulators are under pressure from President Barack Obama and Treasury Secretary Jacob J. Lew to finish the rule in the next three months. At a recent meeting, Lew gave the heads of the five agencies drafting the rule a series of deadlines designed to make sure the government meets the year-end target, according to a person briefed on the meeting who asked not to be identified because it wasn’t public.”

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