Volcker Rule Too 'Complicated,' Says ... Volcker

How’s this for irony: The Volcker rule is too complex and long … according to the guy whose name is on the rule. "It's much more complicated than I would like to see," said Paul Volcker during a talk in Singapore today. Who’s to blame for the too-intricate nature of the 300-page proposed rule? Financial lobbyists, according to the former Fed chairman. "There is no set of lobbyists in the United States bigger, more important, and more rewarded than the financial lobbyists," he said.

But Volcker added that the law is still necessary, as evidenced by the implosion of MF Global: "It reinforces the point—I don't want the banks doing the kinds of things they were doing." The new regulation on bank trading was crafted to keep American banks from making certain speculative investments and engaging in proprietary trading, and is due to be implemented next year, Reuters reports. (More Paul Volcker stories.)