Richmond Fed president resigns, admits to confirming leaked confidential information

The president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond unexpectedly resigned Tuesday and admitted to confirming leaked information about potential Fed policy changes to a financial analyst.

Jeffrey Lacker, who was set to retire in October, announced his immediate resignation Tuesday afternoon.  

“I apologize to my colleagues and the public I’ve been privileged to serve,” said Lacker. “I regret that in this instance, I crossed the line in confirming information that should have remained confidential.”

The confidential information included potential monetary policy adjustments considered by the Federal Open Markets Committee (FOMC), the Fed’s policymaking arm that raises and reduces interest rates. Information about potential Fed policy changes is highly guarded to prevent insider trading.

{mosads}Lacker said he might have inadvertently confirmed confidential information about the FOMC’s September 2012 meeting during an October 2012 phone call with the Medley Global Affairs analyst. Lacker said he later lied to Fed investigators about whether the analyst had confidential information during a probe months later.

Lacker said he revealed that the analyst had confidential information when he was interviewed for a separate investigation by the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York.

Richmond Fed officials said the bank took “appropriate actions” following the investigation, and that First Vice President Mark Mullinix will lead the bank until it finds a replacement for Lacker.

“We expect every employee to comply with all relevant policies and procedures, as well as our standards of conduct,” said the bank in a statement. “We are focused on moving forward within our organization—and were already underway with our presidential search.”

Updated at 4:50 p.m.