Richmond Fed head Lacker resigns, admits improper disclosure

WASHINGTON (AP) - Jeffrey Lacker, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, has resigned after acknowledging improper discussions with a financial analyst.

In a statement Tuesday, Lacker said that in October 2012 he spoke to an analyst at Medley Global Advisers who possessed “highly confidential” information about interest-rate decisions the Fed had considered at its September meeting.

Lacker called his conduct “inconsistent” with the Fed’s confidentiality policies.

“I deeply regret the role that I may have played in confirming this confidential information and in its dissemination to Medley’s subscribers,” Lacker said.

Lacker, who had already announced in January that he was planning to step down this year, said in his resignation statement that he failed to disclose in subsequent investigations the details of his conversation.

Members of Congress have sharply criticized the Fed for not providing information regarding its investigation into the matter. House Financial Services Committee Chairman Jeb Hensarling, R-Texas, had been sharply critical of the Fed’s refusal to provide information on the investigation.

Fed Chair Janet Yellen in 2015 had told the committee that she was unable to provide some documents sought by his committee subpoena because doing so could jeopardize a criminal investigation by the Justice Department and an on-going investigation by the Fed’s inspector general.

In a statement, the Richmond Fed said that it placed a “high priority on safeguarding information.” It said that once the bank’s board of directors learned of the outcome of the government investigations, it had taken appropriate actions.

The statement said the bank’s search process for Lacker’s successor would continue. In the interim, Mark Mullinix, the bank’s first vice president, will serve as acting bank president.

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This story has been corrected to show that the information obtained by Medley Global Advisors covered the Fed’s September 2012 meeting and not a later meeting.