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December 11, 2013

Federal Agencies Approve Long-Delayed Volcker Rule 
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Federal regulators have given final approval to a long-delayed measure
increasing oversight of Wall Street banks. The Volcker Rule aims to curb
proprietary trading, in which banks trade financial securities from
their own commercial accounts. The rule was included in the 2010
Dodd-Frank financial reform bill, but needed final approval from all
five federal banking agencies, including the SEC and the Federal
Reserve. In a major win for banks, the final version grants some
exemptions and effectively hands them responsibility for judging their
own compliance. In a statement, the group Public Citizen called the
Volcker Rule's approval "a step forward toward a safer financial system"
but warned: "There still could be too many opportunities for banks to
disguise as permitted activity what should be deemed prohibited
proprietary trading."

 

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