So is the Volcker Rule really having an effect on Wall Street? There's been a lot of opinions ranging from "Wall Street has found ways around the rule" to "it's forcing some big changes on the top companies." The reality may be somewhere in between.

The issue continues to crop up as more banks continue to tinker with their operations. The latest news is that Goldman Sachs has decided to shutter another prop trading desk, the Global Macro Proprietary Trading, which employed about 8 people who were active in forex, interest-rate, stocks, commodities and fixed-income markets. The decision was made ostensibly to comply with the Volcker Rule.

Recall that the bank previously shuttered its Goldman Sachs Principal Strategies group, which was focused on stocks.

But the bank still operates the quite profitable Special Situations Group, which Goldman feels is allowable under the Volcker rule because it is a lending unit (investing in loans and other fixed income securities over a longer time horizon) rather than a pure trading group.

However, you do get the feeling that are other factors are at play besides just strict compliance with Dodd-Frank. If a bank really wants to keep a prop trading unit around, it can probably find a way.

For more:
- here's an article from TheStreet.com

Related Articles:
Goldman has most to lose from prop trading limits
KKR to hire Goldman Sachs prop traders
Golden era of prop trading passing?
Goldman Sachs to shutter prop trading unit