The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC”), the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (“FDIC”) and the Federal Reserve Board (“Fed”) each announced today that they will discuss, and potentially approve, a final draft of the Volcker Rule at their respective meetings on Tuesday, Dec. 10, 2013. The CFTC meeting will commence at 9:30 a.m. and the others at 10:00 a.m. Interested parties may view the proceedings of each meeting via the Internet. Information regarding these meetings and how you may view them can be found on the CFTC, FDIC and Fed websites.
In addition to the CFTC, FDIC and Fed, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (“OCC”) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) must also approve the Volcker Rule. Earlier today, SEC Chairman Mary Jo White told reporters that she expects the agency to vote on adopting a final version of the Volcker Rule “on or about” December 10. Unlike the other agencies, the OCC is not headed by a board or commission, thus its finalization process differs from the rest; however, the OCC is expected to finalize the Volcker Rule in conjunction with the other banking agencies.
The Volcker Rule is part of the Dodd-Frank Act and restricts the proprietary trading and private investment fund activities of U.S. banks and bank affiliates, as well as foreign banks with banking operations in the United States and their affiliates. A proposed version of the Volcker Rule was originally issued on Oct. 11, 2011. For a summary of the proposed version, please see the SRZ Alerts “Summary of Proposed Volcker Rule Regulation — Fund Activities” and “Summary of Proposed Volcker Rule Regulation — Proprietary Trading.”
The final version is expected to be over 1,000 pages long. We will issue Alerts as developments occur and a summary once a final version of the Volcker Rule is published. If you have any questions concerning this Alert, please contact your attorney at Schulte Roth & Zabel or Joseph P. Vitale: joseph.vitale@srz.com| +1 212.756.2485.