Our big bank regulators have a couple of questions for you. Actually, make that 394 questions.
For the last year and a half, regulators have been turning the sweeping financial reform bill known as Dodd-Frank into detailed rules, and asking for comments along the way. But the questions are particularly voluminous for the “Volcker Rule,” which seeks to stop banks from making big bets that could become big debts for the U.S. government if they went bust.
The New York Times’ DealBook reports that the correlation between controversy and questions is no coincidence:
The question section ballooned in recent weeks as it became a favored destination for controversial provisions. When regulators failed to reach a compromise, a rule was relegated to a question for the public.
Disagreement was apparently rife. One of the regulators, the Commodities Futures Trading Commission, which handles a big piece of the derivatives market, still hasn’t put forward their version of the rule. The version put out by the other four regulators can be read on the website of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, along with all 394-odd questions.
Even if you don’t have detailed thoughts about whether a registered investment company should be expressly excluded from the definition of banking entity (question 8) you are invited to weigh in. You can email your comments to the [OCC,](mailto: regs.comments@occ.treas.gov) the [Federal Reserve,](mailto: regs.comments@federalreserve.gov.) the [Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation,](mailto: Comments@fdic.gov) and/or the [Securities and Exchange Commission.](mailto: rule-comments@sec.gov) Just don’t forget to include the right numbers and letters in the subject line:
OCC: “OCC” and “Docket ID OCC-2011-14”
Fed: “Docket No. R-14[•]” and “RIN 7100 AD[•]”
FDIC: “RIN number 3064-AD85”
SEC: “RIN: 3235-AL07”
Clear enough for you?
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