Investigative findings reveal Federal official’s investments breached ethics guidelines but did not violate insider trading regulations

A recent investigation conducted by the government revealed that Atlanta Federal Reserve President Raphael Bostic has breached several ethics policies of the central bank through his securities trades and investments. Although the probe found no violations of federal insider trading or conflict of interest laws, it did determine that Bostic’s actions gave the impression of acting on confidential information and having a conflict of interest. The investigation, which covered a period of approximately five years starting in 2017, scrutinized financial transactions made on Bostic’s behalf by various investment managers.

One of the key findings of the investigation was that securities trades were executed for Bostic during blackout periods surrounding meetings of the Federal Open Market Committee, the central bank’s policy-making body. Additionally, investigators discovered instances where Bostic failed to accurately report securities transactions and holdings on his annual disclosure forms. Moreover, Bostic was found to have violated the Fed’s policy by exceeding the limit of $50,000 in U.S. Treasury bonds or notes at one point.

In response to the investigation’s findings, Bostic acknowledged that many of his financial activities inadvertently contravened the Fed’s ethics regulations. He took corrective measures to update all his financial disclosures accordingly. The Atlanta Fed board accepted Bostic’s explanations for the oversights and opted not to take further actions back in 2022. Nevertheless, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell requested the Fed’s Office of Inspector General to conduct a review of Bostic’s financial disclosures.