Senate Banking Chair Urges Fed to Penalize Trading Violations
- Brown says ‘real consequences’ need to accompany ethics rules
- Trading scandals have boosted scrutiny of the US central bank
Senate Banking Committee Chair Sherrod Brown is urging the Federal Reserve to strengthen its policies on financial market trading by Fed officials, after a watchdog report last month revealed new details about trading by policymakers during the pandemic.
The Fed revamped its internal ethics rules two years ago following a series of trading scandals that led to the resignation of two regional Fed presidents and prompted a wave of criticism from Congress. Brown, an Ohio Democrat, said in a Tuesday letter to Fed Chair Jerome Powell that the rules are “constructive” but lack an enforcement mechanism and penalties.