General counsel at U.S. financial institutions last week began the arduous task of figuring out how to comply with the Volcker Rule — a complex, 978-page rule that imposes new regulatory tasks on companies.

“I think the reaction I’m hearing from banks is some muted relief that the final rule answered some questions” and fixed some problems, said Douglas Landy, a partner at Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy who represents several top global banks in U.S. regulatory matters.