Fed announces enhanced news security procedures

By MARTIN CRUTSINGER
AP Economics Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Federal Reserve says it is tightening the security procedures in place when it releases information to reporters.

In a statement, the Fed says the additional controls will start with next week's meeting and were put in place after consultations with news organizations. The measures include holding a lockup at the Federal Reserve, where transmission of the news will be over data lines controlled by the central bank.

The Fed says it believes the measures will protect against the premature release of the decisions made by its interest-rate setting panel.

It made the change after concerns were raised about suspiciously heavy trading of gold futures following its last meeting on Sept. 18-19. There were worries that the trading was triggered by the premature release of market-sensitive Fed information.

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