The discrepancies are the latest wrinkle in the final writing of the Volcker rule, which will force banks to scale back bets they make using their own capital. Banks know the broad outlines of the rule, but regulators may not issue a final version until later this year, leaving banks little time as they scramble to comply by July 2014.
The employee-participation provision—designed to avoid a situation where banks, in the event of a crisis, rush to rescue heavily employee-invested funds, said a person involved in the rule-making process—is causing particular consternation…
Alan Johnson, managing director of New York-based compensation-consulting firm Johnson Associates, said he has worked with banking clients frustrated with the lack of guidance on the employee-participation portion of the rule. “This is just one more thing where the rules weren’t quite clear,” he said. “The skeptics said it would take a long time for the rules to come out, and I guess they were right.”
The Wall Street Journal / July 17, 2013