WASHINGTON, (Reuters) – The U.S. Federal Reserve has banned top-ranking officials from purchasing stock and revealed a wide range of restrictions for their investment activities. This was six weeks after reports that senior policymakers were actively trading sparked an ethical uproar.

These new regulations will restrict the financial securities that Fed top officers can have, and prohibit individual stock or bond purchases. You must also notify the Fed in advance and approve any transaction. Additionally, investments should be kept for at least one calendar year.

Jerome Powell (Federal Reserve Board Chair) stated that “these tough new rules raises the bar in order to assure our public we serve that every one of our senior officers maintains a single-minded focused on the public mission the Federal Reserve”.

Fed released a statement saying that new rules would “help protect against even the appearances of conflict of interests in the timing and investment decisions.”

These new regulations were created after the resignation of two regional Federal Reserve bank chiefs following allegations of active trading in 2020. This was when the Fed began a huge effort to counter the devastating economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.