Richmond Federal Reserve President Jeffrey Lacker's leak of sensitive information in 2012 could have come about as a consequence of a "mind lapse", according to one of his former colleagues.

Former Atlanta Federal Reserve President Dennis Lockhart told CNBC Wednesday that the incident was "regrettable". Lacker tendered his resignation on Tuesday after admitting he had discussed sensitive information about Fed policy options with a Wall Street analyst in 2012.



"I don't know the details but it could very well be inadvertent. It could be something that is sort of a mind lapse at a moment that you are not thinking," Lockhart told CNBC when asked to comment on Lacker's resignation.