Impact of Volcker rule on energy trading

Banks have been vocal in their opposition to the Volcker rule, claiming it will inhibit liquidity across the capital markets. But its likely impact on commodities trading is less discussed. David Wigan investigates

Of all the rules to come out of the financial crisis, the one to produce most wailing and gnashing of teeth was conceived by a tall man from the sleepy resort of Cape May on the New Jersey shore. Paul Volcker rose from humble beginnings to become chairman of the Federal Reserve, and last year went on to spark one of the most dramatic financial debates of the twenty-first century.

Volcker said simply that taxpayers should not underwrite gambling by banks, and stood alongside Barack Obama in