On the recordMay 24, 2010
the Hutchison-Hagan motion to instruct is trying to narrow the definition that falls under the Volcker rule and the underlying bill. I believe our amendment would have passed overwhelmingly if we had been able to get it up before cloture was invoked. I appreciate there was a lot going on last week, but this is the way we hope to be able to assure that our amendment is a part of the final bill. The Volcker rule contained in the measure before us seeks to restrict or ban risky proprietary trading at depository institutions. As currently written, the rule brings about some unintended consequences that could be disastrous for our financial system and to a special class of customers--American service men and women. The major problem with the current language is that its reach extends beyond the bounds of the depository institution to a bank's affiliates and subsidiaries, including insurance companies. For diversified financial institutions that serve as one-stop shops of banking and insurance products, especially those serving our military service men and women and their families, the extension of the Volcker rule's proprietary trading restrictions to a depository institution's insurance company affiliates threatens their ability to address the special financial needs of the U.S. military community.
