Fed's Bostic flags more issues with financial disclosures

FILE PHOTO: Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta President Raphael Bostic participates in a panel discussion at the American Economic Association/Allied Social Science Association (ASSA) 2019 meeting in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S., January 4, 2019. REUTERS/Christopher Aluka Berry/File Photo

By Michael S. Derby

NEW YORK (Reuters) -A financial disclosure form for Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta President Raphael Bostic notes more issues with reporting of past trading and investing activities.

Bostic’s disclosure form for 2023, made public on Friday, flagged several filing errors, including one that was referred to the central bank’s Inspector General, the central bank’s in-house watchdog.

The latest form pointed to a retirement fund of his spouse which had been left out of a past disclosure. The form said “the omission was reported to the Board of Governors” and the Fed’s I.G. The form also noted the Board of Directors overseeing the Atlanta Fed had “directly addressed this concern.”

A spokesperson for the Fed’s Board of Governors acknowledged the matter had been referred to the I.G.

An Atlanta Fed spokesperson said in a statement that Bostic "discovered a previously undisclosed retirement account belonging to his spouse from a former employer in the 1990s. It was immediately brought to the attention" of the bank's board, "who confirmed with President Bostic and the Atlanta Fed Ethics Officer that there were no contributions to or trades in the account starting from President Bostic’s first year in office, 2017, to the end of the filing period."

Bostic’s disclosure form came as part of the release of disclosure forms for regional Fed leadership in office as of 2023. Issues with Bostic’s past financial filings had already been referred to the I.G.

The I.G. declined to comment on the matter of Bostic's disclosures.

Earlier this year the Fed’s I.G. released a hotly anticipated report detailing the financial activities of two men who led the Dallas and Boston Fed banks until they abruptly retired in the fall of 2021 after documents revealed both had actively traded in markets while helping set monetary policy.

The I.G. cleared both of formal wrongdoing but said the two men had created the appearance of a conflict of interest via their trading.

Fed Chair Jerome Powell and his second in command Richard Clarida were also cleared of impropriety in their trading activity in a 2022 I.G. report.

In the wake of the revelation of the regional Fed trading activity the Fed updated its ethics code to sharply limit what Fed officials, immediate family members and top staff can do with their investing. The Fed is currently working on enhancing that new system.

(Reporting by Michael S. Derby; Editing by Andrea Ricci)