Crimes of dishonesty or breach of trust have long been no barrier whatsoever to a long and lucrative career as a broker, thanks to FINRA. However, due to the fact that they are subject to an actual regulator that is bound by a law, for 70 years such actions have blocked anyone guilty of such from getting a job as a bank teller or greeter—forever—without written permission from that regulator, the Federal Deposit Insurance Co.
That’s all about to change, thanks to the alignment of the Trump administration’s last-minute deregulatory frenzy, the general desire of his regulators to shirk responsibilities like processing applications for the aforementioned permission, a certain permissiveness towards those things that have defined this president and his life, and, unusually, a genuine desire to do the right thing and open up opportunities to those blocked by a youthful indiscretion, perhaps.