Friday, January 21, 2011

The 'Volcker Rule' Is Now A 'Suggestion': Bank CEOs May Be Required To Sign Off On Speculative Trades

WASHINGTON (Marketwatch) — Federal regulators on Tuesday suggested that bank chief executives be forced to attest in writing that the lenders they run adhere to new rules limiting speculative trading.

The regulators released a study on the Volcker Rule, named after its author, former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker. The rule is intended to limit big insured banks’ speculative investments in the wake of a financial crisis that took the economy to the brink.

At a meeting on Tuesday, the newly formed Financial Stability Oversight Council, which comprises banking and securities regulators including the Federal Reserve, approved the release of the study. They will consider the study as they write rules, which are due in nine months.

Big banks will be permitted to take proprietary positions as long as in the “near term” they believe they can sell them to clients or counterparties. This provision opens up a number of questions that bank regulators will need to answer, such as how near-term the sale must be and whether institutions will have to have clients for these investments.

A requirement by bank regulators that a counterparty buy a stake within 30 days, for example, could make it very difficult for big banks to continue their investment approach. If a longer period is permitted, it could open up the door to more controversial proprietary trading.

Continue reading at Marketwatch...

---

The Volcker Rule is now the Volcker Suggestion...

Video: Dylan Ratigan with Jonathon Alter & Eliot Spitzer -- May 28, 2010

It's a beautiful thing. Larry Summers and Tim Geithner get pretty much all the blame. And the Volcker rule ain't happening:

  • "The current provision is more like the Volcker weak suggestion than the Volcker Rule."
  • "Will we see President Obama stand up against bank lobbyists or will he ultimately hide behind the political expediency and convenience of perpetuating this infinitely leveraged, non-transparent system because he's afraid to take the risk of actually fixing it?"

---

Volcker on Charlie Rose...

Video - September 30, 2009

---

Check out the Bilderberg 2010 Conference slideshow...

Bilderberg Conference 2010 - Ultimate Viewers Guide

---

No comments:

Post a Comment