Congresswoman Maxine Waters, Ranking Member of the House Financial Services Committee, released the following statement following the approval of the “Volcker Rule,” which bans proprietary trading by banks.

“A seminal component of the 2010 Wall Street Reform Act was the inclusion of the ‘Volcker Rule,’ designed to stop banks from using taxpayer-backed customer deposits for trades intended to only benefit the bank itself.

With the release of today’s rule, our regulators have made significant progress toward ensuring these types of risky trades are no longer conducted with consumer dollars. This is a highly complex and important rule, and our regulators should be commended for their hard work.

I am still carefully reviewing this measure, but I am pleased to see signs of improvement from the initial draft, as promised by Treasury Secretary Jack Lew. Now that the Volcker rule has been finalized, we must work to address any problems that may arise – and ensure its strong and proper implementation by regulators.”

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