“Marc Jarsulic of Better Markets points out that, during the height of the financial crisis, the largest financial institutions in the country received a great deal of emergency financing to support their securities operations. At its peak in September 2008, this financing amounted to around $430 billion (per day).

Like it or not, our “banks” have become securities trading operations. (For more on this and all other dimensions of the Volcker Rule, see Better Markets’ “Everything You Need to Know About the Volcker Rule.”) “

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“The best way to prevent proprietary trading – as suggested by Better Markets– would be to tie compensation within the securities subsidiaries of bank holding companies to fees for services and trade-flow commissions. Do not pay traders based on their profit and loss on particular positions, irrespective of whether they or anyone else call that proprietary trading.

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Read Simon Johnson’s full New York Times story here.