Providing For Consideration of Conference Report on H.R. 4173, Dodd-Frank Wall Street Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. HIMES. Madam Speaker, I rise to enter into a colloquy with Chairman Frank. I want to clarify a couple of important issues under section 619 of the bill, the Volcker Rule.

The bill would prohibit firms from investing in traditional private equity funds and hedge funds. Because the bill uses the very broad Investment Company Act approach to define private equity and hedge funds, it could technically apply to lots of corporate structures, and not just the hedge funds and private equity funds.

I want to confirm that when firms own or control subsidiaries or joint ventures that are used to hold other investments, that the Volcker Rule won't deem those things to be private equity or hedge funds and disrupt the way the firms structure their normal investment holdings.

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Mr. HIMES. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

My understanding is also that, consistent with the overall intent not to subject commercial firms to financial regulation, section 604 provides that an existing savings and loan holding company with both financial and nonfinancial businesses will cease to be an S&L holding company when it establishes an intermediate holding company under section 626. That company also may have an intermediate holding company under section 167.

Am I right that the intent of this legislation is for these sections to be applied in harmony, so that an organization will have a single intermediate holding company that will be both the regulated S&L holding company and the organization and the holding company for implementing the heightened supervision of systemic financial activities under title I?

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