US regulators are facing a flood of foreign complaints about the “Volcker rule” aimed at banning proprietary trading at banks, increasing the chances that the measure may be watered down.
Yesterday was the last day for financial companies and industry bodies to comment on the proposed rule, named for Paul Volcker, the former Federal Reserve chairman. A deluge of comment letters had arrived, with more expected to be sent electronically, before the midnight deadline.
Foreign banks have complained about the rule’s impact on their activities and subsidiaries in the US. Under the current proposal, foreign banks with US subsidiaries would be prevented from proprietary trading – or trading on their own account – in a similar way to US banks.