By Michael S. Derby
April 20 (Reuters) – Federal Reserve Chair nominee Kevin Warsh has pledged to divest from a foreign-oriented investment fund if confirmed to lead the U.S. central bank, according to an updated financial disclosure filing.
In a filing dated April 17 that amended an original filing on April 10, Warsh told the Fed’s ethics officer, “I will divest my interests in iShares S&P/TSX 60 Index (XIU)” if confirmed to succeed Fed Chair Jerome Powell in the central bank’s top job. Warsh, a financier and former Fed governor, said he would make this move because “agency ethics officials have since advised me that the duties of my position will involve particular matters affecting the financial interests of the underlying holding” in the fund.
The fund that Warsh says he will divest from targets Canadian equities. Current Fed rules governing what investments policymakers and their immediate family members can hold limit exposure to foreign investments, among a broad range of other rules banning certain types of investments and how affected central bankers can manage their holdings.
Warsh’s overall disclosures released last week showed that the Fed nominee, who faces a confirmation hearing on Tuesday before the Senate Banking Committee, is extremely wealthy and holds a wide range of investments, many of which are not fully disclosed, that he said he will have to sell if he’s confirmed for the top Fed job.
His confirmation, however, has been clouded by a legal investigation into the Fed and its current leadership. A number of legislators have vowed that Warsh will not be confirmed until it is resolved, which makes it highly unlikely he will be in place to take over when Powell’s tenure as Fed chief ends on May 15.
“I continue to believe that Mr. Warsh is in compliance with applicable laws and regulations governing conflicts of interest,” the Fed’s internal ethics officer wrote in the latest filing.
(Reporting by Michael S. Derby; Editing by Paul Simao)
