Two senior Fed officials showed up on calendars for engagements with private banking leaders right as the central bank's do-not-talk window was in effect. Michelle Bowman, the Fed's vice chair for supervision, held a meeting with the leader of the Massachusetts Bankers Association in the week leading up to the June 16-17 FOMC gathering. It is not known whether that discussion related to a public appearance she had with the same group in the week after the meeting. Jerome Powell, now serving as a governor after leaving the Fed chair role in May, attended a June 9 reception put on by Bank of New York Mellon Corp.'s global board of directors, falling a week ahead of that FOMC gathering.
For roughly the 10 days before an FOMC decision and through the day after, Fed officials are prohibited from publicly expressing opinions about the economy or monetary policy. Beyond that window, they are also barred from sharing such views in private unless they are repeating remarks already delivered in public. During blackout periods, they can engage with government officials, including on nonpublic matters, but cannot reveal confidential FOMC information unless the chair gives written approval.
Most Fed policymakers avoid meetings with bankers or the public during the quiet period, and it is rare to hold any meeting in the brief gap between a decision being taken and the statement going out. No indication has emerged that Bowman or Powell violated communication rules, yet the timing drew attention because it is unusual.
Earlier reporting by Bloomberg and others said Bowman, whom President Trump appointed last year as the Fed's top banking regulator, spoke at a private New York dinner hosted by Bank of America Corp. just hours after the June FOMC meeting. She later indicated that she did not share any monetary policy views at that gathering and added that she had "consistently complied with all applicable FOMC and ethics rules and remain firmly committed to doing so." News of that dinner led Senator Elizabeth Warren, a Democrat from Massachusetts, to urge the Fed's Office of Inspector General to open an inquiry.
Bowman's calendar labeled a June 17 event as "Market Participant Listening Session." That same afternoon, about an hour after the FOMC meeting ended and before the day's interest rate decision was made public, she met with Senator Bill Hagerty, a Tennessee Republican who sits on the committee that oversees the Fed.
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Her calendars also show a few appearances that did not appear in the Fed's weekly advisory of upcoming public events: a May 7 roundtable hosted by the Colorado Forum, a nonpartisan policy group, and a May 14 roundtable organized by the bankers associations of New Hampshire and Vermont. It is not specified whether she spoke, who attended, or if reporters could be present.
It was not made clear whether Powell delivered remarks at the June 9 BNY Mellon reception or whether the event permitted press access. Likewise, it remains unclear whether Bowman's meeting with the Massachusetts Bankers Association leader connected to her public appearance the following week.
Bloomberg requested calendars for Fed governors in July, excluding those of Chairman Kevin Warsh, whose schedules are routinely posted on the Fed's website. All in, the documents offer a reminder that even standard meet-and-greets can brush up against the Fed's strict communications rules. For your money, the takeaway is simple: when and where Fed officials appear can shape how information travels, so keeping an eye on calendars, statements, and timing can help you understand market moves before they show up in your feed.
