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Volcker Rule – How a Simple Idea to Rein In Banks Got Supersized

Bloomberg Quick Take by Yalman Onaran: “Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary defines “speculation” in 31 words. The key ones are “risk of a large loss.” When Paul Volcker, the former U.S. Federal Reserve chairman,  in January 2009 proposed banning speculation by federally insured banks to reduce risk to the world economy, he did it in one paragraph. Four years later, the nation’s regulators issued a final rule based on Volcker’s proposal. It ran close to 100 pages, with hundreds more in supporting material — and no one was quite sure how it would be enforced. While that was being figured out, still more paper piled up in bank lawsuits challenging parts of the rule and in lobbying drives for regulatory tweaks and extensions. By the time the rule finally took effect in July 2015, it had become a lesson in how complicated simplifying Wall Street can be…”

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