IGTA Journal - Autumn 2017

I also think that the Volcker rule could be modified so that its implementation would be less burdensome. As I see it, regulators could review the criteria for permissible market-making. Trading activity should be viewed as market-making when it is customer-facing and inventories are not excessively large or stale. Market-making serves an important function, and it is important that trading desks can intervene and buy during flash crashes or sell during flash surges. Permitting this could provide greater liquidity and stability to financial markets. I would also exempt smaller banking institutions from the Volcker rule since they rarely, if ever, engage in proprietary trading. Do no harm Many speculate that Congress will make changes to the Dodd-Frank Act. If the scope is confined mainly to small bank relief and adjusting how the Volcker rule is applied, I have no objection. But, because the Dodd-Frank Act addresses many of the key lessons of the crisis, I think it appropriate that changes be made carefully—with a paring knife, rather than with a meat cleaver. Here, I would underscore the importance of preserving higher capital and liquidity requirements for systemically important banks; Title VII, which mandates the central clearing of standardized OTC derivatives; and Title VIII, which gives the Federal Reserve an oversight role for financial market utilities that are systemically important, and which helps promote more uniform risk management standards. While Title II gives the FDIC the authority to resolve a large, complex financial firm by converting its debt into equity and establishing a new holding company, I do not think this is necessarily the only way to have a viable resolution regime. However, if Title II were to be eliminated, then the Bankruptcy Code would need to be bolstered. There are two essential requirements: the ability to initiate an effective resolution strategy over the weekend, and a government entity—be it the Federal Reserve or the FDIC—that can provide a credible liquidity backstop to the recapitalized entity when it opens for business on Monday morning. If resolution cannot be accomplished in this timeframe, confidence would suffer and there would be contagion. Without a credible liquidity backstop, clients and counterparties would run, making it much more difficult for the recapitalized firm to conduct its business. I would also preserve the authority of the FSOC to designate non-banking firms as systemically important and subject to supervision by the Federal Reserve. As I see it, the designations of GE Capital and AIG were successful in two important respects. First, Federal Reserve supervision resulted in improved corporate governance and risk management. Second, it created incentives for the firms to alter their operations to become less systemically important in order to be de- designated. We should also retain this designation tool because we cannot predict which firms and activities may emerge and become systemically important in the future. After all, I do not think many were focused on or worried about the activities of AIG’s Financial Products Group several years before the financial crisis, though in retrospect those activities proved to be systemically important. That part of the firm should have been better supervised and regulated. Summing up In conclusion, as we reflect on potential changes to the U.S. regulatory regime, we should not lose sight of the horrific damage caused by the financial crisis, including the worst recession of our lifetimes and millions of people losing their jobs and homes. We had a woefully inadequate regulatory regime in place, and while it is much better now, there is still work to do. We should finish the job as quickly as possible, and we should do no harm as we adjust our regulatory regime to make it more efficient. Thank you for your kind attention. I would be happy to take a few questions. Figures are based on the CoreLogic home price index (including distressed sales) and the PCE price indexas 1 6 / 7 BIS central bankers' speeches IGTA eJournal | Autumn 2017 | 58