Fed Exec Broke Ethics Rules But Didn’t Flout Insider Trading Laws

A government investigation into Atlanta Federal Reserve President Raphael Bostic’s financial trades and investments found he violated several of the central bank’s ethics policies.

The violations occurred over a five-year period beginning in 2017, during which Bostic’s investment managers made trades on his behalf. I Photo: Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta / University of Cincinnati

However, the probe concluded that Bostic did not break federal insider trading or conflict-of-interest laws, the Fed's Office of Inspector General revealed in a report.

The violations occurred over a five-year period beginning in 2017, during which Bostic’s investment managers made trades on his behalf. The investigation found that some transactions occurred during “blackout” periods around meetings of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC).

It also found instances where Bostic failed to report securities transactions or inaccurately disclosed them on annual forms.

Additionally, at one point, Bostic exceeded the Fed’s limit of $50,000 in U.S. Treasury bonds or notes. Despite these violations, the Inspector General concluded there was no evidence that Bostic acted with knowledge of confidential Fed information.