Regulators, Divided Over 'Volcker Rule,' Weigh Going It Alone; Bank Overseers Consider Passing a Version Without Commodities Agency
WASHINGTON--Bank regulators are considering passing the 'Volcker rule' without the blessing of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, which has been pushing for 11th-hour changes ahead of a year-end deadline to finalize the regulation, according to people familiar with the process.</br></br>The option is one of many being weighed amid a flurry of new objections and complications as regulators from five separate agencies scramble to complete the long-delayed rule, which bans proprietary trading by banks.</br></br>CFTC Chairman Gary Gensler, along with a Securities and Exchange Commissioner, and doesn't do enough to prevent them from making risky bets, these people said. Mr. Gensler in recent weeks has sent a number of proposed changes to a team of regulators hammering out language in the roughly 1,000-page rule, these people said.</br></br>Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew has set a year-end deadline to complete the rule, a central plank of the 2010 Dodd-Frank financial law. It was supposed to have been finished well before the end of 2013.</br></br>Mr. Gensler's objections, along with those raised by SEC Commissioner Kara Stein, have threatened to further delay implementation. Mr. Gensler's concerns have upset other regulators, who say Mr. Gensler chose to stay on the sidelines as the rule was being drafted, despite requests from top officials that he get involved. He has become fully engaged with the process only in the past two months, they say.