When a Wall Street bank repeatedly violates the law, the banking agencies impose a fine that typically constitutes a small fraction of the firm's annual profits. Ironically, it’s all too common for regulators to impose lifetime bans from the banking industry to low-level employees.
The Federal Deposit Insurance Act, and the FDIC’s implementing regulations, previously banned people with certain criminal offenses from the banking industry. These offenses included relatively minor drug-related offenses. The Fair Hiring in Banking Act, enacted in December 2022, sought to chip away at this uneven administration of justice. 1 The legislation exempted certain offenses from the automatic ban, including those committed when the individual was 21 years old or younger. 2
These changes will enable otherwise qualified people to pursue or continue careers in the banking industry. It will also help banks hire and retain talent.
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is a 21st century agency that implements and enforces Federal consumer financial law and ensures that markets for consumer financial products are fair, transparent, and competitive. For more information, visit www.consumerfinance.gov.
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