Volcker critical of delays in namesake rule

By Martin Crutsinger AP Economics Writer WASHINGTON (AP) - Former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker last Friday criticized a decision to delay full implementation of a rule that bears his name and aims to curb banks' risky investments. The Fed said last Thursday that it would delay until July 2017 the deadline by which U.S. banks will have to sell off potentially volatile holdings in private equity, venture capital and hedge funds. "It is striking that the world's leading investment bankers, noted for their cleverness and agility in advising clients on how to restructure companies and even industries, however complicated, apparently can't manage the orderly reorganization of their own activities in more than five years," Volcker said in a statement. Congress passed the Volcker Rule in 2010 as part of the Dodd-Frank Act, a major overhaul of financial regulations. The rule limits banks' riskiest trading bets that could go implode at taxpayers' expense. It was risky investments that triggered the 2008 financial crisis that caused the worst disruption of the banking system since the 1930s. Volcker said he understood that "lobbying is eternal." He suggested that banks' real aim might be to delay implementation of Dodd-Frank until they can get it changed. Banks have aggressively lobbied against the Volcker Rule because it restricts some of their most profitable activities. The Fed said it planned to extend from July 2015 to July 2017 the deadline by which banks will have to sell their stakes in prohibited investments. It had already granted a one-year extension. Banks, who had sought a seven-year extension, have argued that they need more time to unload their holdings. The delay represents another victory in efforts by Wall Street to curb the impact of the Dodd-Frank law. As part of the recently passed budget deal in Congress, lawmakers approved a change that will curtail a requirement for banks to push certain swaps-trading activities out of federally insured bank holding companies. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Massachusetts, who unsuccessfully fought against the provision in the budget bill that loosened Dodd-Frank regulations, said the Fed's decision was another setback for banking reform efforts. "Delaying the Volcker Rule is one more giveaway that lets Wall Street have more time to make risky bets using taxpayer-backed money," she said in a statement. "This is a nice favor for the lobbyists working to slow down the implementation of Dodd-Frank and chip away at critical financial reforms, but it's a bad deal for middle class families and our economy." Published: Tue, Dec 23, 2014