The Federal Reserve on Friday adopted a strict new set of investing and trading rules for its senior officials, their spouses, and minor children, among others, as part of the central bankâs effort to boost confidence in its policymakers after an ethics scandal sparked a public outcry.
The Fed said in a statement the tough new restrictions intend âto ensure public confidence in the impartiality and integrityâ of the work of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), the central bankâs policy-setting body, with the move meaning to guard against âeven the appearance of any conflict of interest.â
Under the sweeping new rules, top Fed officials are barred from buying stocks and sector funds, and from holding individual bonds, agency-backed securities, commodities, foreign currencies, and cryptocurrencies…