Mr. Lacker said that when he saw Ms. Schleiger’s report, “I realized
that my failure to decline comment on the information could have been taken by the analyst, in the context of the conversation, as an acknowledgment or confirmation of the information.”
Mr. Lacker said he did not intend to reveal confidential information about the Fed’s conduct
of monetary policy, adding that “I deeply regret the role I may have played.”
The Fed announced a new policy in 2011 restricting contact between policy makers and the burgeoning industry of market intelligence firms paid by investors, in part because of the perception
that analysts like Ms. Schleiger had access to inside information.
Richmond Fed President Resigns, Admitting He Violated Confidentiality -
By BINYAMIN APPELBAUMAPRIL 4, 2017
WASHINGTON — Jeffrey M. Lacker, the president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, resigned abruptly on Tuesday, admitting
that he had confirmed information about the Fed’s confidential internal deliberations in a conversation almost five years ago.
In October 2012, a market intelligence firm, Medley Global Advisors, sent a note to clients
that said the Fed would start a new round of Treasury purchases at its December policy meeting.
The author of the note, Regina Schleiger, also included the kind of tidbit only an insider could know:
Some Fed staff members had stayed up past midnight to prepare for the Fed’s previous meeting.
