Sheila Bair urges tough rules on hedging by banks

[Eugene]

Source: Reuters

Sheila Bair urges tough rules on hedging by banks

By Alexandra Alper

WASHINGTON | Thu May 31, 2012 1:50pm EDT

(Reuters) - Washington policymakers should tighten the Volcker rule's ban on bank's speculative trades by reining in an exemption for hedging activity, former U.S. bank regulator Sheila Bair said on Thursday.

Speaking at a roundtable hosted by the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission, Bair said Volcker rule exemptions should be strictly defined and that banks should have to publicly disclose their hedges.

"I would tighten the rule," she said. "A hedge should not be allowed unless it is a hedge."

Bair, who stepped down as chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp last year, has been an outspoken critic of Wall Street excess and is still an influential voice in Washington.

[font size=1]-snip-[/font]

Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/05/31/us-volckerrule-bair-idUSBRE84U0XC20120531

[mbperrin]

1. Tougher yet - let's hang 'em from the nearest phone pole.

Not sure if this is sarcasm or not...