WASHINGTON, D.C.— Today, Dennis Kelleher, Co-founder, President, and Chief Executive Officer of Better Markets, issued the following statement regarding the Federal Reserve’s announced new trading policies:

“The changes announced today by the Federal Reserve are long overdue and a good start, but don’t go far enough.  First, the policies must be broader and apply to anyone at the Fed who is in possession of material nonpublic information.  Second, the most senior leaders of the Fed (i.e., Chair, Governors, Regional Presidents and senior officials) must be required to put all their investments into a qualified blind trust and be banned entirely from any trading.  Third, the Fed must come clean with the American people and disclose all the information and documents related to those at the Fed who traded during the pandemic.

“The new policies cannot be used to whitewash the prior bad judgment, failures of leadership, and violation of the Fed’s own policies if not the law.  The Fed simply cannot continue to use meritless arguments to keep the American people in the dark about their conduct during the pandemic.  There are no good reasons to stonewall the many requests for the Fed to release all of the documents related to the pandemic trading by the Fed’s leaders.  Claiming that the policy review or the IG investigation prevents the release of documents is baseless and raises the question of what the Fed has to hide.  This refusal is why people have valid concerns about an ongoing cover up at the Fed, which will continue to erode the trust and confidence of the American people until the Fed comes clean.”

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Better Markets is a non-profit, non-partisan, and independent organization founded to promote the public interest in the financial markets, support the financial reform of Wall Street and make our financial system work for all Americans again. Better Markets works with allies – including many in finance – to promote pro-market, pro-business and pro-growth policies that help build a stronger, safer financial system that protects and promotes Americans’ jobs, savings, retirements and more. To learn more, visit www.bettermarkets.org