The effort to unify the historic financial reform legislation still faces some huge issues, notably issues regarding the so-called Volcker Rule. Wall Street lobbyists are turning up the heat in an effort to make the rule's prohibition of ownership of hedge funds (hedge fund news) and private investment firms less onerous, reports the New York Times. This issue now seems to be the main priority after Blanche Lincoln's swap trading prohibition was successfully watered down. A lot is at stake.

JPMorgan Chase (NYSE: JPM) would like to hold onto Highbridge Capital Management, a huge hedge fund operation, Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) would like to hold on to its flagship Global Alpha franchise, and Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) would like to keep FrontPoint Partners and other hedge funds.

"The three main changes under consideration would be a carve-out to exclude asset management and insurance companies outright, an exemption that would allow banks to continue to invest in hedge funds and private equity firms, and a long delay that would give banks up to seven years to enact the changes." Sen. Scott Brown of Mass. is leading the charge. 

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- here's the article

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