“Hammering out a rule that bans risky bets at banks has proved so complex that the final version may not come until the second half of the year, much later than previously expected, according to people close to the talks.

“For banks, the logjam among the five regulators working on the so-called Volcker rule means they will have less time to prepare before it takes effect next year. Since the Volcker rule was passed as part of the 2010 Dodd-Frank financial overhaul, banks already know the broad outlines of the rule, but they won’t know the specifics until the regulators approve the final version.

““It’s hard to build a compliance system around something when you don’t know what it’s going to require,” said Ken Bentsen, acting chief executive of the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association, Wall Street’s main trade group. Mr. Bentsen said his group is considering pushing regulators to extend the rule’s effective date beyond July 2014, since it is taking so long to complete.”

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