Comment Text:
"Restrictions on Proprietary Trading and Certain Interests in, and Relationships with, Hedge Funds and Private Equity Funds"
Ref: Question 83
We are very concerned about the effect of an overly restrictive implementation of the Volker rule statute on the fixed income market. We believe it would heavily restrict current liquidity providers, such as investment banks, to continue to help facilitate trading for institutional investors and help keep trading costs at a sensible level. Indeed, we have already seen liquidity and trading costs start to rise as a result of tightening that is happening already in the marketplace. We see it as negative for re-pricing on secondary market credits, due to higher liquidity premiums, and believe it will have a negative impact on price discovery, particularly for distressed credits.
