With the Federal Reserve under pressure to tighten its ethics rules regarding how its officials trade stocks and other interest-rate sensitive instruments, one of the regional Fed governors who engaged in such trades is stepping down early.

Boston Fed president Eric Rosengren announced he will be leaving his post nine months before his term ends, for health reasons:

Boston Fed President and CEO Eric S. Rosengren announced that he will move up his long-planned retirement from June 2022 to September 30 of this year. He retires after more than 35 years of service at the Bank, the past 14 as president. His planned June 2022 retirement was aligned with mandatory retirement age for the position.

In a message to the Bank’s staff, Dr. Rosengren revealed for the first time that he qualified for the kidney transplant list in June of 2020, during the pandemic, upon the worsening of a kidney condition he has had for many years. Delaying the need for dialysis might be improved if he makes lifestyle changes now to lessen the risks of his condition.

Fair enough. But let’s also not forget the other reason it may be a good time for a “lifestyle change“:

Rosengren drew criticism earlier this month for buying and selling securities in real estate investment trusts during the pandemic. That controversy — along with trades by Dallas Fed President Robert Kaplan — led Fed Chair Jerome Powell to launch a review of the central bank’s ethics rules. Both Rosengren and Kaplan have since said they would divest from their individual stock holdings by the end of September to avoid any appearance of a conflict of interest.

We wish him well…and hope the Fed tightens its ethics rules, too.