This practice note provides an overview of the Volcker Rule, which was enacted in 2010 as Section 619 of the comprehensive Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (Dodd-Frank Act) and codified as the new Section 13 of the Bank Holding Company Act of 1956 (BHC Act), 12 U.S.C. §1851. The final regulations implementing the Volcker Rule, which were proposed by the responsible U.S. federal agencies—the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (Federal Reserve), the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC)—were promulgated on December 10, 2013, and became effective on April 1, 2014. 12 C.F.R. Parts 44, 248 and 351; 17 C.F.R. Parts 75 and 255.

Originally published in Lexus Nexus - September 2017.