Bloomberg: “Hundreds of U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission lawyers and examiners face new obstacles to cashing in on their agency experience under an expanded ethics rule to take effect in January. The change targets the practice of regulators moving to jobs at law firms and investment banks where they capitalize on their SEC relationships. The ethics rule, which previously affected only the most senior officers, will now be applied to everyone who earns more than $155,440 a year, according to a copy of an agency announcement. The employees will be banned from contacting old colleagues for one year after leaving the SEC when the policy becomes effective in January. Commissioners and division directors have long faced such limits. The rule “places us on even footing with our peer regulators and adds an additional layer of protection against even the appearance of impropriety when former employees take on new jobs,” Shira Pavis Minton, the SEC’s top ethics official, wrote in the announcement.”

• See also POGO’s report, Dangerous Liaisons: Revolving Door at SEC Creates Risk of Regulatory Capture