As the Covid-19 pandemic began, the Federal Reserve Board’s ethics advisers recommended officials limit personal investing activities.

In an email sent on March 23, 2020, ethics personnel urged Fed officials avoid “the appearance of acting on inside information” and “consider a trading blackout”. The Fed shared the text of the email with media.  

The email reminded officials that “[Federal Reserve] system policy provides” that “an employee with knowledge of Class I FOMC [Federal Open Market