An agency watchdog said that from 2018 to 2023, Raphael Bostic, President of the Atlanta Federal Reserve, broke rules about investing “multiple” times. However, the watchdog did not find any proof that he made money from inside knowledge.
The Office of Inspector General at the central bank said Bostic “created a “appearance of a conflict of interest” that could make a reasonable person question” his honesty as a top Fed officer.
Dictators made dozens of deals and investments for Bostic during blackouts from 2018 to 2023. These were done by outside investment managers. Before the Fed decides to raise or lower interest rates, there are times when the market is shut down.
Bostic told the police that he used outside business managers so that he wouldn’t have a conflict of interest. Based on the investigation, Bostic did not have the power to order individual investments or trades.
Still, the inspector general said Bostic should have known that trades were happening during blackouts and that “he could have identified trading violations continuously throughout his tenure.”
After several cases of rules being broken, the Fed recently put stricter rules on investments made by high-level officials. It was revealed a few years ago that the heads of the regional Fed banks in Dallas and Boston were trading, so they stepped down.
Fed Chairman Jerome Powell’s investments have also been closely looked at, but he was found not to have broken any rules.
They told everyone that their investigation into Bostic is over. The Federal Reserve Board was told to take “any further action as they deem appropriate” with the case.
A board member at the Atlanta Fed also said that the issue was being looked into.
The regional bank has been led by Bostic since 2017. This year, he has a vote on the Fed group that decides interest rates in the U.S.
