In a December 7 letter to the Fed, SEC, CFTC, OCC, and FDIC, House Financial Services Committee Chair Spencer Bachus (R-ALA) requested that the comment period for the proposed regulations implementing the Dodd-Frank Volcker Rule be extended for at least 30 days to accommodate a January 18, 2012 Financial Services Committee hearing. At present, the comment period for the regulations expires on January 13, 2012.
In contrast to the letter Rep. Maurice Hinchey (D-NY), Rep. Peter Welch (D-VT), and 15 other House members sent on November 16 arguing that the regulations were not strong enough, Senator Bachus's letter claims the proposed regulations go too far, and that the proposals "are not clear and need much work." In particular, Senator Bachus is concerned that because a number of European and Asian and jurisdictions will not be putting into place a corresponding version of the Volcker Rule, the Volcker Rule could effectively "spark an exodus of clients from US financial institutions to offshore competitors." In addition, Bachus claims the proposed regulations in their current form may cause US financial institutions to relocate their operations elsewhere to avoid burdensome regulations on client-driven market making and on hedging and risk management activities.