Dallas and Boston Fed presidents resign amid scrutiny over stock trades

Federal Reserve
(Image credit: Olivier Douliery/AFP/Getty Images)

The Federal Reserve banks of Dallas and Boston said Monday that their presidents are stepping down amid scrutiny over their stock-trading during the COVID-19 pandemic. Dallas Fed President Robert Kaplan acknowledged the controversy in a statement Monday afternoon, saying he decided to retire because "unfortunately, the recent focus on my financial disclosure risks becoming a distraction to the Federal Reserve's execution of that vital work." Boston Fed President Eric Rosengren said earlier Monday he was stepping down nine months early for health reasons.

Kaplan and Rosengren are both 64, and most regional Fed leaders have to retire at 65. But the recent disclosures that they had traded stocks and other investments that could be seen as interfering with their policy-setting responsibilities prompted Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell to announce a "thorough-going and comprehensive review" of Fed ethics rules last week. Nobody on the Fed's rate-setting committee "is happy to be — to be in this situation, to be having these questions raised," he said. "It's something we take very, very seriously."

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Peter Weber, The Week US

Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.