July 1 (Reuters) – A group of Senate Democrats requested on Wednesday that the Federal Reserve’s in-house watchdog investigate a meeting by the central bank’s top bank regulator and financial market participants held during a quiet period for Fed officials.
Citing Fed Vice-Chair for Supervision Michelle Bowman’s attendance at a Bank of America client event held right after the June 16-17 Federal Open Market Committee meeting, the senators wrote “we ask” the Fed’s Inspector General “to review whether her attendance or comments violated any statutes, rules, regulations, policies, or procedures and whether the Fed’s existing framework governing such external events should be strengthened.”
The letter was authored by Senators Elizabeth Warren, Jack Reed, and Chris Van Hollen, and was written to Fed I.G. Michael Horowitz. The letter was first reported by the Wall Street Journal.
Fed rules prevent central bank officials from speaking on monetary policy issues in the days ahead of and just after FOMC meetings.
Bowman, in a statement shared by the Fed, said she did not violate central bank policy. “I did not share my views on monetary policy. I have consistently complied with all applicable FOMC and ethics rules and remain firmly committed to doing so,” the official said in the statement.
The Fed declined to comment on whether it had referred the matter to the I.G. A request for comment with the Inspector General did not get an immediate response.
(Reporting by Dagmarah Mackos; Editing by Chris Reese and Chizu Nomiyama )