Regional lender, Zions Bancorporation, said today that it was taking a charge of $387 million to rid itself of a sizable portfolio of trust-preferred collateralized debt obligations and other CDOs to be in compliance with the new Volcker Rule that was approved last week, the New York Times DealBook Blog reported today. The bank, based in Salt Lake City, said that it was taking the fourth-quarter, noncash charge and putting the portfolio up for sale because it believed the securities would be considered “disallowed investments” under the Volcker Rule. The bank announced the move just days after federal regulators approved a tougher version of the rule, which is the centerpiece of the Dodd-Frank Act, passed in response to the financial crisis. The rule, inspired by Paul A. Volcker, the former Federal Reserve chairman, is intended to deter banks from making risky bets with their own money, in hopes of avoiding the need for future bailouts of the financial system.
