Fed officials are selling shares to avoid apparent conflicts of interest

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September 9 (Reuters) – Two Federal Reserve officials said on Thursday they would sell their individual shares later this month to address emerging conflicts of interest.

Dallas Fed Chairman Robert Kaplan and Boston Fed Chairman Eric Rosengren issued statements saying they would invest the proceeds from these sales in diversified index funds and cash savings and would not operate in these accounts while they were exercising their functions.

The announcements come after officials were examined by businesses they did last year, according to their financial disclosure forms.

In the forms, first reported by the Wall Street Journal, Kaplan revealed that he had a total of 27 investments in individual stocks, funds or alternative assets that were valued at more than $ 1 million each. It also made sales or purchases of at least $ 1 million in 22 individual shares or mutual funds of the company, according to the report. Transactions included Apple, Amazon and General Electric.

“Although my financial transactions conducted during my years as president of the Dallas Fed have complied with the ethical standards of the Federal Reserve, to avoid even the occurrence of any conflict of interest, I have decided to change the my personal investment practices, ”Kaplan said in a statement.

A separate Bloomberg report noted that Rosengren had stakes in four separate real estate investment trusts and made multiple purchases and sales on those investments and other stakes, while also being a vocal critic of U.S. real estate market risks.

In a similarly worded statement, Rosengren said his personal investments and transactions met Fed ethical standards.

“Unfortunately, the emergence of these permitted personal investment decisions has raised some questions, so I made the decision to divest these assets to underscore my commitment to the Fed’s ethical guidelines,” said Rosengren, who reaches the mandatory retirement age in June 2022.

Reports by Jonnelle Marte and Ann Saphir; Edited by Leslie Adler

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