Dissenting Statement Regarding Adoption of Interim Final Rule Regarding Certain CDOs Backed by TruPS as a "Companion Rule" to the Volcker Rule

Commissioner Michael S. Piwowar


Jan. 14, 2014

It took only days for my concerns about the so-called Volcker Rule to be confirmed.  The public has already identified two serious flaws in the final rule, both related to a change in the definition of "ownership interest" from the proposal.  Those flaws are the result of a needlessly rushed rulemaking process and the agencies´ unwillingness to perform a reasoned analysis to understand the potential impacts of the many changes in the final rule.  The speed with which these concerns were brought to our attention suggests that if the rule had been reproposed we could have avoided the current need to develop expedited fixes.  Instead of adopting a "companion rule" to resolve our error with respect to the TruPS issue, we should immediately rescind and repropose the entirety of the Volcker Rule with a comment period sufficiently long enough for the public to identify other unintended consequences.  Engaging in a deliberative, thoughtful rulemaking process is the only way to ensure that rules work as intended.