> So you train for many years and acquire knowledge of a particular area and then what? You can't actually make money from the skill you learned?

Sure you can. But you shouldn't be regulating the companies you hope to work for.

If these people were angling to get cushy jobs for large banks, don't you think there is a conflict of interest there? And if you were large banks, wouldn't you tell these regulators you'd love to hire them for their "expertise" so that you get preferential treatment?

If you think these people were hired for their "expertise", that's naive. It's rewarding regulators for working for the banks interests and it's a signal to future regulators that they also will be taken care of if they "do the right thing".

Think about it. If you were going to regulate facebook, do you think it is smart to stack the regulatory board with people who want to work for facebook after the regulation is created? Don't you think that's a conflict of interest?