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None of these deals took place between the end of March and May 1, a Fed official said, which would have limited Mr. Kaplan’s ability to use information about upcoming bailout programs to carry out a profit.
But the trades have gained attention for other reasons. Mr Conti-Brown pointed out that Mr Kaplan was buying and selling shares of oil companies just as the Fed was debating what role it should play in regulating climate-related finance. And everything the Fed did in 2020 – like cutting rates to near zero and buying trillions of government guaranteed debt – affected the stock market, pushing stock prices up.
“This is really bad for the Fed, people are going to take it over and say the Fed is self-treating,” said Sam Bell, founder of the policy-focused group, Employment America. “Here’s a guy influencing monetary policy, and he’s making money in the stock market.”
Mr. Perli noted that Mr. Kaplan’s financial activity included trading in a corporate bond exchange-traded fund, which is actually a collection of corporate debt that trades like a stock. The Fed bought shares of this type of fund last year.
Other key policymakers, including New York Fed Chairman John C. Williams, have reported significantly less financial activity in 2020, based on information released or provided by their reserve banks. Mr Williams told reporters on a call Wednesday that he believed transparency measures around business activities were essential.
“If you are asking if these policies need to be reviewed or changed, I think that’s a larger question to which I don’t have a specific answer at the moment,” said Williams.
Washington-based board officials reported some financial activity, but it was more limited. Jerome H. Powell, the chairman of the Fed, reported 41 transactions recorded by him or on behalf of his family in 2020, but these were generally index funds and other relatively broad investment strategies. Randal K. Quarles, the Fed’s vice chairman for oversight, recorded purchases and sales of Union Pacific shares last summer. These shares were assets of Mr. Quarles’ wife and he had no involvement in the transactions, a Fed spokesperson said.
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