U.S. Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., predicts credit problems from new Fed rule

photo In this file photo, Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., speaks during a news conference on the debt ceiling on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP)
Arkansas-Tennessee Live Blog

U.S. Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., said today he expects new banking regulations could soon limit access to capital for some businesses.

Corker said the so-called Volcker rule in the new Dodd-Frank financial regulation could cut credit for many borrowers by cutting off some forms of lending.

"When you look at credit availability, I think within the next 60 days you are going to hear a hue and cry from across the country of mainstream manufacturing entities because of some of these rules," Corker said. "Here we are in the height of the time when people are having trouble getting credit, this Volcker rule comes out. People think it's about traders at banks making money gambling at banks. But at the end of the day, what it also affects credit throughout our country."

Named for its author -- former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker -- the new rules would ban banks from making short-term trades for their own accounts and prevent them from owning or sponsoring hedge funds and private-equity funds. The regulation is aimed at heading off risk-taking that helped fuel the 2008 credit crisis.

But during a Chattanooga appearance today, Corker said the rule is another example of regulatory overreach by the federal government.

"It's unbelievably frustrating to know that these policies are going to such damage to the economy and to the things that people care most about in the economy," he said.

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