Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Noting CFTC, Chamber of Commerce Asks FSOC Chair to Ensure that Volcker Rule Regulations Are Consistent and Coordinated

In a letter to Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner in his role as Chair of the Financial Stability Oversight Council, the US Chamber of Commerce asked that FSOC ensure that the actions of the federal financial regulators implementing the Volcker Rule provisions of Dodd-Frank are consistent and coordinated and that regulatory uncertainty is minimized. The letter was partially driven by the indication that the CFTC does not appear to be coordinating with the SEC and the federal banking agencies in proposed regulations implementing the Volcker Rule. The SEC and CFTC Chairs are FSOC Members.

The implementation of Sec. 619 of Dodd-Frank will have broad implications for financial institutions since the Volcker Rule limits their ability to engage in proprietary trading and have relationships with hedge funds. The Chamber is conserned that the lack of coordination between the CFTC and the SEC and banking agencies injects additional uncertainty into an already fragile economy and threatens to further endander the economic recovery.