Big banks spent years railing against the so-called Volcker Rule, which bars them from making wagers with their own money. Now, with the imminent arrival of the Trump administration, some banks and lawyers are eyeing a new way to defang the rule: Simply stop enforcing it.

The rule, named for former Federal Reserve chairman Paul Volcker, was one of the most controversial pieces of the 2010 Dodd-Frank financial-overhaul law, passed in the wake of the financial crisis. The provision was intended to rein in reckless risk-taking by big banks, but critics complain that it is unduly burdensome to comply with and deprives them of a lucrative money-making opportunity.