On Tuesday, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and the Office of the Comptroller of Currency voted to modify the Volker Rule, regulation that implements part of the 2010 Dodd-Frank Act. The final rule must also be approved by The Federal Reserve, Securities and Exchange Commission, and Commodity Futures Trading Commission, all of which are expected to endorse the changes with minimal revisions. The changes reflected in the final rule include giving firms with less than $1 billion in trading assets and liabilities the benefit of the doubt that they comply with the Volcker rule’s trading restrictions, and easing some restrictions for banks investing in hedge funds and private-equity funds if done for the purposes of underwriting securities or trading on behalf of a client. Also, regulators plan to make changes to the covered fund definition in the near future. The final rule, if approved by the remaining regulatory agencies, will be effective on Jan. 1, 2020 and banks will have an additional year to comply.

Read more via The Wall Street Journal.