The European Central Bank's Ethical Rules: Incidents at the US Federal Reserve Raise Questions About the Rules of Conduct for the European Central Bank’s Governing Council

The study analyses the private securities transactions at the US Federal Reserve that have been made public since late 2021 and are worthy of criticism. It is shown by way of example that under the current applicable rules of conduct for the European Central Bank's Governing Council members, such questionable transactions would neither be reported nor prohibited. The important goal of avoiding even the appearance of personal insider benefits and interest-driven monetary policy decisions is thus not achieved. In this respect, the rules of conduct for the members of the European Central Bank's Governing Council require urgent revision even after they were recently adapted.