The head of the Atlanta Federal Reserve Bank has violated federal regulations related to his personal investment transactions – again. Earlier this month the U.S. Office of the Inspector General reported that Raphael Bostic a breached law that prohibits him from making investments during blackout periods. This prohibition is designed to prevent one of the key officials tasked with setting our nation’s monetary policy from being able to personally profit from Fed decisions not yet made public.

This is not Bostic’s first regulatory misstep as a Fed official. Less than two years ago, regulators discovered that Bostic had failed to disclose any of his personal securities transactions. Mr. Bostic’s explanation at the time was that he had hired an outside manager to invest his money, and he was unaware of the transactions.

A man who was considered as a possible Treasury Secretary isn’t aware of his reporting requirements or doesn’t occasionally review his investment statements? This doesn’t pass the smell test.

My firm has worked for high-level employees of federal agencies and judiciary. While their reporting requirements and trading restrictions can be significant, they are not complicated. Our clients take these reporting requirements and trading restrictions seriously – almost sacredly.

Bostic is apparently a smart guy. Valedictorian of his high school class, BA from Harvard and a PhD from Stanford. It is audacious for him to expect people to accept a second claim of naïve oversight.

It is tempting to assume that you are so far removed from the Federal Reserve that there is no reason for you to worry about the sloppy recordkeeping of some bureaucrat. Maybe you just assume that all government officials’ game the system at least a little; why should a Federal Reserve Board member be any different?

But this is exactly why we should not accept this behavior from any government or quasi-government official. Tolerating it normalizes ethical (and sometimes legal) missteps, practically inviting similar behavior from public employees at all levels of government. Too often, state and local officials treat conflict of interest restrictions and reporting requirements as nuisances – mostly only addressing them after a violation is discovered.

I hope the eight new Knox County Commissioners and Board of Education members don’t follow this path. Unless they prove otherwise, I assume their actions will be motivated by the public good, not personal gain, even if that gain is a seemingly harmless byproduct of their official acts.

Regardless of his explanation for his latest violations, Bostic is either too haphazard to serve in such an important capacity or he thinks he is special, so the rules don’t apply to him. Either way, he doesn’t deserve a third chance to demonstrate to state and local officials how to violate the public’s trust.

David Moon is president of Moon Capital Management. A version of this piece originally appeared in the USA TODAY NETWORK.