The Federal Reserve wants to soften the Volcker Rule on big banks

The Federal Reserve building in Washington.
(Image credit: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

The three members of the Federal Reserve Board voted unanimously on Wednesday to move forward a proposal that would roll back the Volcker Rule, which prevents banks from making risky bets with depositors' money.

The Volcker Rule has been in effect since April 2014 and is meant to keep banks in check in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis. Wall Street has complained about the rule ever since, and Fed Chairman Jerome Powell said Wednesday that regulators are trying to "replace overly complex and inefficient requirements with a more streamlined set of requirements."


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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.