“The transactions were executed prior to his involvement in deliberations on Federal Reserve actions to respond to the emergence of the coronavirus and not during a blackout period. The selected funds were chosen with the prior approval of the Board’s ethics official,” the spokesperson added.
.announced their resignations on Monday, though each maintained their actions had been vetted and approved by local ethics officers.Article content Fed Chair Jerome Powell has opened a broad review of the system’s ethics rules and promised changes to bolster confidence in how the central bank uses its immense powers. He is awaiting word on his possible renomination to a second term as Fed chair by President Joe Biden, and the controversy has given his critics a new line of argument about his oversight of the institution.
It has also renewed longstanding calls for reform of the Fed’s arcane structure and particularly of the selection process for the regional bank presidents. While hiring authority is split between the private boards that oversee each of the 12 regional banks and the Fed’s Washington-based and presidentially appointed Board of Governors, there is no public vetting or review of the candidates for the job, similar to the Senate hearings and confirmation that Fed governors themselves go through.
That’s led to criticism of the process as out of step with modern demands of transparency for policy-setting positions, and of leading to clubbishness in appointments.