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Volcker Rule
Slideshow

'A compliance nightmare': Comments of the week

ByRachel Witkowski
August 22, 2019 9:30 PM

Readers react to regulators revamping the Volcker Rule and the U.S. Postal Service getting into banking, criticize HUD's plan to make it harder for consumers to allege discrimination and more.

Comptroller of the Currency Joseph Otting (right) and FDIC Chairman Jelena McWilliams.
On two regulators finalizing a revamp of the complex Volcker Rule that was intended to ban proprietary trading:

"Nice to see some much-needed sanity returning to these rules, which were a compliance nightmare . . . Can we please quit pretending that prop trading was even a tiny contributor to the financial crisis?"

Related: What's left of the Volcker Rule after the final rewrite?
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Display of red electronic board of stock market quotes with down trend graph. Recession concept
interstid - stock.adobe.com
Another reader responds to regulators easing certain Volcker Rule requirements:

"What's left of the Volcker Rule after the final rewrite? I now call it the 'Alice in Wonderland rule.' Like the Cheshire Cat, it has slowly disappeared so now only it's smile remains."

Related: What's left of the Volcker Rule after the final rewrite?
Paul Volcker
Paul Volcker, former chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve, speaks during the 31st Annual Meeting of the Bretton Woods Committee at the World Bank Headquarters in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Wednesday, May 21, 2014. This year's meeting brings together leaders and experts from business and civil society to consider the value and changing nature of multilateralism in an age of austerity. Photographer: Pete Marovich/Bloomberg *** Local Caption *** Paul Volcker
Pete Marovich/Bloomberg
A third reader reacts to regulators streamlining the Volcker Rule:

"These reforms return the focus of the Volcker Rule back to genuine proprietary trading that has systemic consequences. Banks and regulators will not be distracted by enforcing rules that have nothing to do with systemic risk."

Related: What's left of the Volcker Rule after the final rewrite?
USPS.jpg
Signage is seen at the United States Postal Service (USPS) Joseph Curseen Jr. and Thomas Morris Jr. post office station in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Tuesday, Dec. 12, 2017. The USPS said it expects to deliver over 15 billion total pieces of mail this holiday season with expanded Sunday delivery operations in certain areas, delivering over six million packages each Sunday in December. Photographer: Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg
Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg
On criticisms about the U.S. Postal Service diving deeper into banking in an attempt to fix its financial woes:

"What the USPS has of value is real estate. How about they rent SOME of it out to a bank or credit union which has a charter to serve that area?"

Related: Postal banking won’t deliver for USPS
U.S. Post Office worker, postal banking, mailman, postman
A United States Postal Service (USPS) letter carrier delivers mail in Shelbyville, Kentucky, U.S., on Thursday, Dec. 22, 2016. More than 30 million packages handled by the USPS are estimated to be delivered on December 22, which is still a fraction of the 750 million packages this holiday season, a 12 percent increase over last year. Photographer: Luke Sharrett/Bloomberg
Luke Sharrett/Bloomberg
Another reader responds to the USPS attempting to get further into banking:

"Selling paper money orders and cashing these for recipients is a far cry from the tech-heavy banking world that we live in today. Enormous amounts of capital investments would be required to allow the new bank to be competitive."

Related: Postal banking won’t deliver for USPS
HUD Secretary Ben Carson
Ben Carson, secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), listens during a Bloomberg Television interview in New York, U.S., on Tuesday, June 13, 2017. Carson discussed ideas being developed to open up home ownership in the United States with a focus on millennials burdened with student debt. Photographer: Victor J. Blue/Bloomberg
Victor J. Blue/Bloomberg
On the Department of Housing and Urban Development proposing a change to its “disparate impact” standard, making it harder for consumers to allege discrimination:

"Find me another place in American jurisprudence where the burden of proof is on the defendant to show that something DID NOT occur and/or that there was no other possible approach that would have yielded a different result. It's an absurd test.."

Related: HUD plan to alter anti-discrimination rule called 'deeply cynical'
home-construction-bl-080919.jpg
A new home stands under construction at a Lennar Corp. development in Montgomery, Illinois, U.S., on Wednesday, May 15, 2019. A stronger-than-expected increase in housing starts at the beginning of the second quarter bodes well for residential investment to make a contribution to GDP growth after five quarters of declines. Photographer: Daniel Acker/Bloomberg
Daniel Acker/Bloomberg
Another reader responds to HUD's plan to make it more difficult for consumers to accuse a lender of unintentional discrimination, called disparate impact:

"It is unfortunate that judicial interpretation can blur the lines of regulatory boundaries and that it potentially effects members and consumers in this way."

Related: HUD plan to alter anti-discrimination rule called 'deeply cynical'
freddie-mac-bl032618.jpg
A Freddie Mac sign stands outside the company's headquarters in McLean, Virginia, U.S., on Tuesday, April 8, 2014. Senator Sherrod Brown, an Ohio Democrat and a member of the Senate Banking Committee, said a bipartisan bill to replace Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac is too complicated and doesn't do enough to address too-big-to-fail concerns or provide assistance for affordable housing. The panel will consider the measure on April 29. Photographer: Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg
Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg
On an op-ed claiming the true preferred stockholders of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are the taxpayers who helped fund the conservatorship:

"Receivership is the only way to silence these minions."

Related: Taxpayers are the GSEs' true stockholders
FHFA headquarters in Washington, D.C.
The seal of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) is displayed outside the organization's headquarters in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Wednesday, March 20, 2019.
Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg
Another reader responds to the op-ed stating that taxpayers are the real stockholders of Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac:

"Refreshing, a well formed argument in favor of, dare I say it, common sense."

Related: Taxpayers are the GSEs' true stockholders
Rachel Witkowski
Tech reporter, Financial Planning
Volcker Rule Investment strategies Consumer banking Ben Carson Jelena McWilliams Joseph Otting FDIC OCC HUD Freddie Mac Fannie Mae RegTech Conference
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