Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond President Jeffrey Lacker announced Tuesday that he was leaving the Fed immediately, acknowledging his role in a major leak regarding a major Fed interest rate decision in 2012 that has long been a source of controversy.
In a statement, Lacker said he broken the Fed’s confidentiality rules and regretted that he “crossed the line to confirming information that should have remained confidential.”
Lacker had already announced his intention to leave the Fed system in January. He had served as the head of the Richmond bank since 2004.
On Tuesday, the Richmond Fed said that its board of directors “took appropriate actions” regarding Lacker after learning of the results of a government investigation into the leak. CNBC reported that Lacker’s exit was negotiated with law enforcement.
The leak of confidential information about the Fed’s monetary policy decision-making in 2012 had been the subject of investigations by the Fed’s inspector general, law enforcement and Congress. It had also been a source of tension between the Fed and Republican members of Congress, who had accused Fed chairwoman Janet Yellen of intentionally hindering their investigation into the source of the leak.
The Fed’s Board of Governors said in a statement issued Tuesday afternoon that it “cooperated fully with the independent law enforcement investigation into an unauthorized disclosure in 2012. We appreciate the diligent efforts made to bring this matter to its conclusion.” The Board’s inspector general, Mark Bialek, said separately that his office “will be concluding its investigation.”
The specific leak in question appeared in a report by Medley Global Advisors, which provides intelligence to hedge funds and other investors. The group’s newsletter contained details about the Fed’s internal deliberations in a September 2012 monetary policy meeting at which it launched a major bond-buying program.
In his statement, Lacker wrote not that he leaked to the Medley Global author, but rather that he confirmed information about the meeting when he spoke with her on Oct. 2, 2012. He did not say where she might have gotten the information in the first place.
Lacker said that he notified authorities of the conversation in a 2015 interview with law enforcement, including the FBI, but that he hadn’t revealed it in a December 2012 interview with the Fed’s general counsel.
