Lastest Fed financial disclosures an exercise in contrasts

By Michael S. Derby

NEW YORK, June 18 (Reuters) - The latest round of Federal Reserve financial disclosures is coming with an unusually wide range of granularity.

Take the filing made public Thursday dealing with Fed Governor Lisa Cook. In the document, the official reported over a million dollars in expenditures associated with her still unresolved fight to stop President Donald Trump from firing her.

But she also lists receiving a "game night" prize of a two-night hotel stay valued at just shy of $800. Meanwhile, Fed Vice-Chair Philip Jefferson said in a disclosure revealed on June 4 a "rent or royalties" payment of between $201 and $1,000 for a book he authored entitled "Poverty: A Very Short Introduction."

The small-dollar transparency of those disclosures stands in contrast to that of the new Federal Reserve Chairman, Kevin Warsh, who is the wealthiest Fed leader in the institution's history. In documents released ahead of his confirmation, Warsh listed over $100 million in assets, much of which he declined to fully describe citing confidentiality agreements.

Warsh, meeting an ethics agreement with the government, noted in late May that he had sold the bulk of those holdings to bring his financial position into conformity with government and central bank rules.

The speed of that sale raised questions in many quarters as to who may have bought it. Government rules do not require officials to say who buys their financial assets. The Fed declined on Thursday to comment on a request to reveal who bought Warsh's expansive holdings, and Warsh did not face a question on the matter at his press conference held on Wednesday.?

Last month Senator Elizabeth Warren, a Massachusetts Democrat, had pressed Warsh to reveal the buyer or buyers of his assets as she worried about the conflicts of interest that could arise from the situation.?

(Reporting by Michael S. Derby; Editing by Daniel Wallis)