SEC and Other Organizations Propose Guidance to Exclude Community Banks from the Volcker Rule

The SEC and several other government agencies — including the Federal Reserve Board, CFTC, FDIC, and OCC — have jointly issued a proposed rule, Proposed Revisions to Prohibitions and Restrictions on Proprietary Trading and Certain Interests in, and Relationships With, Hedge Funds and Private Equity Funds.

Issued in response to the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act, the proposed amendments would “exclude from these restrictions certain firms that have total consolidated assets equal to $10 billion or less and total trading assets and liabilities equal to five percent or less of total consolidated assets and amend the restrictions applicable to the naming of a hedge fund or private equity fund to permit an investment adviser that is a banking entity to share a name with the fund under certain circumstances.”

Comments on the proposed rule are due 30 days after the date of its publication in the Federal Register. For more information, see the press release and proposed rule on the SEC’s Web site.