On December 10, 2013, the federal banking agencies, the SEC and the CFTC adopted final regulations to implement Section 13 of the Bank Holding Company Act (commonly known as the “Volcker Rule”).  A key question for sponsors of private equity and hedge funds not affiliated with “banking entities” is the extent to which banking entities will be permitted to invest in those unaffiliated private funds.  Because one purpose of the Volcker Rule was to limit investment by banking entities of their own capital in private funds, not surprisingly, such investment is severely limited.  Nonetheless, a “U.S. Banking Entity” may invest in third-party sponsored private funds under limited circumstances.  A Non-U.S. Banking Entity with a U.S. banking presence has somewhat greater flexibility.  And a Non-U.S. Banking Entity with no U.S. banking presence is not affected by the Volcker Rule.  In a guest article, Satish M. Kini and Michael P. Harrell, both partners at Debevoise & Plimpton LLP, and Gregory T. Larkin, an associate at Debevoise, outline the available options.