What to make of the Bloomberg report that Theo Lubke--a 15-year veteran of the Federal Reserve Board, the man who led the effort to reform OTC derivatives practices on Wall Street--will now join Goldman Sachs? The role, apparently created for him, will allow Lubke to "work closely with divisional and firm-wide leadership to implement regulatory reform legislation," according to a Goldman memo.

It does not appear that the hiring violated any anti-revolving door rules. Lubke was reassigned at the New York Fed, where he was a senior vice president in September to begin looking for a job outside the bank, Bloomberg notes.

Fed officials are prohibited for six months "from attending any meetings with the central bank or from any contact with it on matters related to the area in which the official worked."

You could spin this several ways. You could argue that Goldman has hired the one man that can ensure it can continue to operate profitably despite the rules; if there's a way around derivatives regulations, he's the guy. On the other hand, you could argue that Goldman is serious about regulation, and wants to make sure it stays strictly within the confines of the ensuing Dodd-Frank rules--and even the intent of the rules.

Again, the firms seems to have hired the perfect person. Yet, some may be troubled that it appears regulators jump at the big money the first chance they get. They're just waiting for the iron to get hot. But in our society, everyone wants a big paycheck. You can't really blame anyone for that.

For more:
- here's the article

Related Articles:
Citi hires Orzag as vice chairman
Goldman Sachs hires from New York Attorney General
The revolving door and the hedge fund industry
More ex-regulators move to banks