The Dodd Frank Act - Is It 'frankly' Too Much?:the Volcker Rule

In 2010, the United States regulation was hit with huge post-financial crisis reform in the form of the mighty Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. In isolating the analysis of Section 619 of the Dodd Frank Act, the Volcker Rule, its flaws are clear to see. The principal goal of the Volcker Rule is to limit the risks taken on by banking entities by prohibiting them from engaging in proprietary trading activities. By limiting proprietary trading, the United States government is optimistic that much of the 'too big to fail' problem brought to light during the financial crisis will be solved. The problem is that the focus of the Volcker Rule is proprietary trading, and proprietary trading only - arguably not the most significant cause of the global financial crisis of 2008. And so, its effectiveness in addressing the problems that lead to the financial crisis are hindered before it even becomes effective. Moreover, the Volcker Rule is riddled with complexities which will inevitably make it difficult for regulators to implement and enforce. Thus, the Volcker Rule is too much in terms of complexity, but not enough in regards to its probable efficacy.