Americans for Financial Reform, Public Citizen, and Occupy the SEC hosted a conference call with reporters and bloggers Tuesday, February 14th at 2:00 PM EST to discuss the importance of the “Volcker Rule” and calling on the regulators to draft an effective final rule, and to resist industry’s efforts to defend a status quo that serves Wall Street special interests and puts the public at risk.
“The controversial Volcker rule that regulates proprietary trading came in for a final round of comment as frustrated bankers, anti-Wall Street activists and Paul Volcker himself flooded government regulators with last-minute statements before the deadline Monday at midnight. …Backing up Volcker were a number of Democrat senators as well as a coalition group comprising Americans for Financial Reform, Public Citizen, and Occupy the SEC, a sub-group associated with New York’s Occupy Wall Street movement.”
“Americans for Financial Reform letter on the rule: ‘There are significant positive elements in this proposed rule. But it still falls well short of fully implementing the statute. It is clear from both the legislative history and the text of the statute that in passing the Volcker Rule Congress sought fundamental change in the American financial system by restoring basic firewalls between the banking system and the capital markets.'”
“President Obama’s FY 2013 budget request would increase the CFTC budget to $308 million…also increases funding for the SEC to $1.566 billion…AFR strongly supports the increased funding levels, and believes that adequate funding for these regulators is vital to holding Wall Street accountable, and preventing another financial crisis. Huge volumes of hidden and un-backed derivatives trades were a key cause of the financial crisis. …With millions of Americans still out of work, more than $8 trillion lost in home values and retirement savings, and millions of foreclosures it could not be clearer that Wall Street must not be allowed to gamble in the shadows.”
AFR submitted a comment to regulators on the Volcker Rule to ban proprietary trading and fund investments in banking institutions. This rule is a centerpiece of the Dodd-Frank Act.
AFR submitted a comment letter to the SEC arguing that the rules are generally appropriate, but that the regulators should also make clear that they are prohibiting not just the specific examples of conflict of interest that came to light in hearings on the financial crisis, but all similar conflicts of interest.
AFR submitted a comment to the CFTC on the process for a designated contract market or swap execution facility to make a swap available to trade. The proposed rule falls short of congressional intent, and requires fundamental restructuring.
Click here to view this week’s highlights and lowlights in Wall Street Reform – February 4, 2012 – February 10, 2012.
“A coalition of corporate organizations has asked the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to hold a roundtable before proposing rules to implement the CEO-employee pay ratio disclosure mandate of Section 953(b) of the Dodd-Frank Act. …In response, the Americans for Financial Reform (AFR), a group that includes the AFL-CIO and other supporters of Section 953(b), argues that the business coalition’s request for a roundtable is an attempt ‘to stifle the rule, not to enhance the rulemaking process.’”
The “Volcker Rule” is a part of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street reform bill that bans banks and other large, critical financial institutions from making risky, speculative bets using taxpayer backed funds – a practice called “proprietary trading.” Tell the financial regulators to write a strong “Volcker Rule” and end excessive speculation at big Wall Street banks that puts the public at risk.