OCC moves solo on Volcker Rule, soliciting feedback

WASHINGTON — The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency is soliciting public feedback on ways to reform the implementation of the Dodd-Frank Act’s Volcker Rule.

In its notice to the Federal Register, announced Wednesday, the OCC asked financial industry stakeholders to weigh in on the rule.

“There is broad recognition that the final rule should be improved both in design and in application,” the notice said.

Keith Noreika, acting Comptroller of the Currency, listens during a Senate Banking Committee hearing in Washington.
Keith Noreika, acting Comptroller of the Currency, listens during a Senate Banking Committee hearing in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Thursday, June 22, 2017. Top U.S. banking regulators are sprinting to ease the Volcker Rule, stress tests and other constraints on Wall Street after the Trump administration issued a long list of proposals last week for rolling back post-crisis financial rules. Photographer: Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg

The OCC also suggested that it planned to stay in line with the Trump administration’s goals, as outlined in a June report on Dodd-Frank by the Treasury Department.

“The information that the OCC is soliciting could support the revisions to the final rule advanced in the Treasury Report and elsewhere,” the notice said. “It also may support additional revisions that are consistent with the spirit of the Treasury Report.”

The Volcker Rule, which prohibits banks from engaging in certain derivatives activities, is implemented by five federal agencies, including the OCC, the Federal Reserve and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. It was the subject of discussions at a Financial Stability Oversight Council meeting on Friday.

The OCC would have to work in concert with those agencies to make changes to the rule.

In a press release, acting Comptroller of the Currency Keith Noreika said he still planned to work together with his counterparts in reforming the rule.

“This is one piece of a larger interagency effort to improve the rule,” Noreika said. “I look forward to reviewing the comments and to joining the other regulators soon on a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to amend the regulation.”

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Volcker Rule Keith Noreika OCC
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