Banks May Have 12 Years to Implement Volcker Rule

Banks such as Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Citigroup Inc. may have as long as 12 years to cut their stakes in private-equity units and hedge funds under the new financial reform bill, Bloomberg News reported.

The time-frame in the bill, combined with provisions that would allow banks to apply for extensions, make it unclear exactly how quickly banks would have to reduce their investments. Estimates cited by Bloomberg News range from seven years to 12 years.

Under the so-called Volcker rule in the financial reform bill, banks would have to cut their investments in hedge funds and private equity to more than 3 percent of their capital .