A former governor on the Federal Reserve Board who suddenly stepped down from her role over the summer violated the bank’s trading rules, according to a report Saturday citing new disclosures from the U.S. Office of Government Ethics.
The documents relating to Adriana Kugler revealed multiple purchases and sales of shares in stocks such as Apple, Southwest Airlines and restaurant group Cava, and showed that many of the purchases and sales happened during a blackout period ahead of policy meetings when officials aren’t allowed to make such transactions, The New York Times reported.
The disclosures state that, “certain trading activity was carried out by Dr. Kugler’s spouse, without Dr. Kugler’s knowledge, and she affirms that her spouse did not intend to violate any rules or policies.”
The Federal Reserve’s rules, which apply to policymakers’ spouses and children, prohibit trades in individual companies and limit purchases to diversified investments and mutual funds, according to the Times. The newspaper added that the rules also ban trading in cryptocurrencies, foreign exchange and commodities and block any transactions from being made during a roughly two-week period before policymakers get together to vote on new interest rates.
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The Federal Reserve overhauled its trading rules in 2022 after some policymakers were found to be participating in financial markets while the Federal Reserve was taking steps to back the U.S. economy at the start of the coronavirus pandemic, the newspaper also said.
FOX Business has reached out to the U.S. Office of Government Ethics for comment.
Kugler’s resignation was announced by the Federal Reserve in early August.
“It has been an honor of a lifetime to serve on the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System,” Kugler said in a statement at the time. “I am especially honored to have served during a critical time in achieving our dual mandate of bringing down prices and keeping a strong and resilient labor market.”
“I appreciate Dr. Kugler’s service on the Board and wish her very well in her future endeavors,” added Federal Reserve Board Chair Jerome Powell. “She brought impressive experience and academic insights to her work on the Board.”
The central bank said, as a governor, “Dr. Kugler was an active member in multiple committees, including the Committee on Financial Stability, the Committee on Federal Reserve Bank Affairs, the Committee on Board Affairs, and the Subcommittee on Smaller Regional and Community Banking.”
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The Times reported Saturday that some of the improper trades, which ranged as high as $250,000, were flagged to a Federal Reserve internal watchdog early this year.
Just prior to her resignation announcement, Kugler asked Powell in July to grant her a waiver so that she could trade during the blackout period and get rid of impermissible holdings, but that request was denied, the newspaper added.
A Federal Reserve official told FOX Business that Kugler had an initial filing with the Office of Government Ethics in October 2024 and said she said her husband had carried out some trades that violated policy and that she was curing them. Around the end of last year, Kugler also had training with ethics officials and over the course of that training, it became clear to the officials that Kugler had additional potential violations, the official added.
Kugler initially was set to leave the Federal Reserve this upcoming January and at the time of her early departure, she said she was returning to Georgetown University to teach, the Times reported.
FOX Business was not immediately able to reach Kugler for comment.
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