Fed bans stock trading, restricts other investing activities by top officials

A broad set of other restrictions on the investing activities of Federal Reserve officials has been implemented by the US Federal Reserve on Thursday that has banned individual stock purchases. This follows reports from around six weeks ago of active trading by some senior policymakers triggered an ethics uproar, Reuters reported.

''The new rules will limit the types of financial securities the Fed’s top officials can own, including an outright ban on purchases of individual stocks or holding individual bonds. It also requires advance notice and approval of any transactions, and stipulates investments be held for at least a year.''

“These tough new rules raise the bar high in order to assure the public we serve that all of our senior officials maintain a single-minded focus on the public mission of the Federal Reserve,” Federal Reserve Board Chair Jerome Powell said a statement.

Market implications

While not necessarily impactful, the new rules come after two of the 12 regional Federal Reserve bank presidents resigned after reports of their active trading during 2020.