“I am writing to inform you that it is my intention to resign from the Board on January 14, 2022,” Clarida said in a letter to President Joe Biden on Monday.
The Federal Reserve said Clarida had served as Vice-Chairman and member of the central bank's Executive Board since September 17, 2018.
"Rich's contributions to our monetary policy deliberations, and his leadership of the Fed's first-ever public review of our monetary policy framework, will leave a lasting impact in the field of central banking," Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said in a statement. "I will miss his wise counsel and vital insights."
Clarida’s resignation comes after media reported last year that some senior Federal Reserve officials were involved in financial markets' trading that could be influenced at least indirectly by their policy decisions.
A Federal Reserve probe late last year found none of its officials implicated in the scandal violated the central bank's policies on securities trading or US regulations. Clarida has denied any wrongdoing, but public criticism about the apparent conflict of interest among the central bank’s top officials has persisted.
US media reported that Clarida’s resignation comes two weeks earlier than planned. While the vice-chairman did not give a reason, the reports said he has faced renewed scrutiny about trades he made in 2020 as the Federal Reserve was poised to rescue financial markets.
Last week, US media reported that Clarida had corrected his 2020 financial disclosures in late December. Ethics experts said one of his trades raised questions - he sold a stock fund on February 24 before repurchasing it on February 27, just before Powell announced on February 28 that the Federal Reserve stood ready to help markets and the economy from the emerging coronavirus pandemic.