Atlanta Fed chief under investigation after saying he broke trading, investing rules

The president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta is under investigation after saying that he unintentionally did not disclose certain transactions on financial disclosure forms. 

Raphael Bostic, who has been the head of the bank since 2017, said in a statement that he has ensured since taking office that his assets were managed in accounts that he and his personal investment adviser did not have the ability to direct. 

But he said he has learned that the transactions third parties carry out should be listed on his annual financial disclosure forms, not just the assets themselves. 

He said he was unaware of specific trades and their timing because of his reliance on a third-party manager. A “limited” number of trades happened during Federal Open Market Committee blackout periods, times when transactions are prohibited. 

Bostic said he was also unaware when his holdings of U.S. Treasury funds in 2021 exceeded the limits in the committee’s trading and investing rules. 

A Federal Reserve Board spokesperson told The Hill that Chairman Jerome Powell asked the board’s Office of the Inspector General to initiate an independent review of Bostic’s financial disclosures.

“We look forward to the results of their work and will accept and take appropriate actions based on their findings,” the spokesperson said.

Bostic said he began working with the Atlanta bank’s general counsel’s office, the Fed’s general counsel’s office and his board of directors to correct the information as soon as he became aware that his financial reporting did not meet expectations. 

“I recognize it is my responsibility to understand and abide by every obligation of this office,” Bostic said. “I want to be clear: at no time did I knowingly authorize or complete a financial transaction based on nonpublic information or with any intent to conceal or sidestep my obligations of transparent and accountable reporting.” 

He said he regrets if his actions raise questions about his own standards, behavior or motivation or the Atlanta bank’s systems and processes.

–Updated on Oct. 17 at 1:18 p.m.