US regulators have unveiled a ban on Wall Street banks trading for their own profit, but the long-awaited Volcker rule proposal was so complex that banks blasted it as unworkable and consumer groups dismissed it as too weak.

Regulators are giving the public until January 13th to comment on the rule. That is more time than expected, and could result in more pressure to change elements of the rule.

The proposal includes more than 350 questions that regulators want interested parties to weigh in on, particularly on how the government should write exemptions that allow banks to still make markets for their customers and hedge risk in their portfolios. “Only in today’s regulatory climate could such a simple idea become so complex, said American Bankers Association chief executive Frank Keating. – (Reuters)