We really need to do something to stop people from scoring highly remunerative jobs with the companies that they regulated as soon as they leave their position.
The revolving door is not just unseemly, it is a form of bribery:
Citadel Securities, the US market maker owned by billionaire Ken Griffin, has snapped up Heath Tarbert, the former head of the main US derivatives regulator, to be its new chief legal officer.
Tarbert left the Commodity Futures Trading Commission just 27 days ago, having resigned as its chair after an 18-month tenure.
Citadel Securities’ announcement on Thursday marked the latest in a long list of hires from US regulators by Griffin. Tarbert replaces Steve Luparello, Citadel Securities’ general counsel, who is a former director of the Securities and Exchange Commission’s division of trading and markets.
Griffin also hired Gregg Berman, the SEC’s former head of research who examined the role of high-frequency trading on the world’s largest equity market, as well as Ryan VanGrack, who was an adviser to former SEC chair Mary Jo White, among others.
The move has reawakened accusations of a so-called revolving door from public service to private work.
I’m not sure how to make this illegal, but it needs to be made illegal.