Three big banks were punished for market manipulation this week — and tucked into the punishment was a single sentence that could pay big dividends for the banking industry.

Under the 2010 Dodd-Frank financial regulation law, banks that violate financial rules are disqualified from access to a streamlined process for certain types of business they conduct, unless they receive a waiver from federal regulators.

That provision, known as the bad actor rule, was created to make legal settlements with regulators riskier and more financially painful for banks — an incentive for them to avoid the conduct that precipitates such settlements.

On Monday, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission reached settlements with Deutsche Bank, HSBC and UBS Group for a type of market manipulation called spoofing. The banks collectively paid just under $47 million to settle the civil charges without admitting or denying any wrongdoing.