HOW'S THAT TRANSPARENCY GOING?:

‘Volcker rule’ takes bankers by surprise (Edward Luce and Tom Braithwaite, January 21 2010, Financial Times)

White House officials on Thursday insisted that Mr Obama’s proposals, which are not thought to have the enthusiastic backing of Tim Geithner, Mr Obama’s Treasury secretary, had been in the pipeline since last spring, although there was no hint of them in the regulatory reform paper it sent to Capitol Hill in June.

Officials added that Mr Volcker had met with Mr Obama “more than a dozen times” since taking office.

Almost everyone else, including key figures in the banking sector, which is likely to lobby fiercely against the proposals, which Mr Obama aptly dubbed the “Volcker Rule”, were taken by surprise.

“We had absolutely no idea this was coming,” said Scott Talbott of the Financial Services Roundtable, a leading Wall Street lobby group.

Restoring regulations that prevent investment banks from taking on too much risk certainly make sense, but blindsiding them makes none.

Posted by Orrin Judd at January 21, 2010 2:57 PM