Powell Questioned Again on Ethics

Q: Did anyone on the Fed Board know about Kaplan and Rosengren stock trading activity? Do you still have confidence in them to do their job?

A: They file these reports annually, including recently for 2020. I don't have any reason to think that people on the Board would have known about any particular trading going on. People at the Fed see the trading reports when they are filed.

• In terms of having confidence, I think noone on the FOMC is happy to be in this situation, to be having these questions raised. It's something we take very, very seriously. This is an important moment for the Fed and I'm determined we will rise to the moment.
• I'm reluctant to get ahead of the process and speculate about different things. When we have things to announce, we will do that.[ re the presidents' renomination process and whether the disclosures came up] That's a good Q. The 5 year review we do when all the Reserve Bank presidents are renewed for reappointment at the same time every 5 years, is a really broad review about their leadership of the institution, performance on FOMC, etc.
• If there was a public/private concern about something, we wouldn't wait the 5 years. We have had a framework for a long time, similar but a little stricter than other government agencies. I wouldn't blame the people who conduct that review. I really think if someone had raised concerns or if we had concerns that would have been, but it wouldn't have been part of that process. It would have been raised instantly rather than once every five years.