Brown: Fed’s Updated Stock Trading Rules Fall Short

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Chairman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, released the following statement on the Federal Reserve’s update to trading rules for members of the Federal Reserve Board and governors.

“Public officials, whether at the Fed or in Congress, must serve the American people – not their own stock portfolios. The Board’s latest update to its trading rules still fails to establish the clear penalties needed for Federal Reserve officials who trade stocks in violation of the public trust. A rule with no consequences for breaking it isn’t much of a rule at all,” said Brown. “The American people need to be able to trust that the Federal Reserve works for them, and that officials aren’t abusing their positions for personal gain.”

Brown has long called for the Fed to enact rules to ban its members from trading stocks. He previously introduced the Ban Conflicted Trading at the Fed Act which would ban Federal Reserve governors as well as presidents and vice presidents of its 12 regional banks from trading in individual stocks, and mandate substantial financial penalties for Federal Reserve officials who violate the law.  

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