[United States Government Manual]
[June 01, 2006]
[Pages 417-422]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]


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FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM

Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System

Twentieth Street and Constitution Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20551
Phone, 202-452-3000. Internet, www.federalreserve.gov.
Board of Governors                                  

Chairman                                          Ben S. Bernanke
Vice Chair                                        (vacancy)
Members                                           Susan Schmidt Bies, 
                                                          Donald L. 
                                                          Kohn, Randall 
                                                          S. Kroszner, 
                                                          Mark W. Olson, 
                                                          Kevin M. Warsh

Staff:                                              

Director, Division of Board Members               Michelle A. Smith
Congressional Liaison                             Winthrop P. Hambley
General Counsel                                   Scott G. Alvarez
Secretary                                         Jennifer J. Johnson
Director, Division of Banking Supervision and     Richard Spillenkothen
        Regulation
Director, Division of Consumer and Community      Sandra F. Braunstein
        Affairs
Director, Division of Federal Reserve Bank        Louise L. Roseman
        Operations and Payment Systems
Director, Division of Information Technology      Marianne M. Emerson
Director, Division of International Finance       Karen H. Johnson
Director, Management Division                     H. Fay Peters
Director, Division of Monetary Affairs            Vincent R. Reinhart
Director, Division of Research and Statistics     David J. Stockton
Staff Director, Office of Staff Director for      Stephen R. Malphrus
        Management
Inspector General                                 Barry R. Snyder

Officers of the Federal Reserve Banks               

Federal Reserve Bank Chairmen:                      
    Boston, MA                                    Blenda J. Wilson
    New York, NY                                  John E. Sexton
    Philadelphia, PA                              Doris M. Damm
    Cleveland, OH                                 Charles E. Bunch
    Richmond, VA                                  Thomas J. Mackell, Jr.
    Atlanta, GA                                   David M. Ratcliffe
    Chicago, IL                                   Miles D. White
    St. Louis, MO                                 Walter L. Metcalfe, 
                                                          Jr.
    Minneapolis, MN                               Frank L. Sims
    Kansas City, MO                               Robert A. Funk
    Dallas, TX                                    Ray L. Hunt
    San Francisco, CA                             David K. Tang
Presidents:                                         
    Atlanta, GA                                   Jack Guynn
    Boston, MA                                    Cathy E. Minehan
    Chicago, IL                                   Michael H. Moskow
    Cleveland, OH                                 Sandra Pianalto
    Dallas, TX                                    Richard Fisher

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    Kansas City, MO                               Thomas M. Hoenig
    Minneapolis, MN                               Gary H. Stern
    New York, NY                                  Timothy F. Geithner
    Philadelphia, PA                              Anthony M. Santomero
    Richmond, VA                                  Jeffery M. Lacker
    St. Louis, MO                                 William Poole
    San Francisco, CA                             Janet L. Yellen

Federal Open Market Committee                       

    Chairman                                      Ben S. Bernanke
    Vice Chairman                                 Timothy F. Geithner
    Members                                       Susan Schmidt Bies, 
                                                          Jack Guynn, 
                                                          Donald L. 
                                                          Kohn, Randall 
                                                          S. Kroszner, 
                                                          Jeffrey M. 
                                                          Lacker, Mark 
                                                          W. Olson, 
                                                          Sandra 
                                                          Pianalto, 
                                                          Kevin M. 
                                                          Warsh, Janet 
                                                          L. Yellen

    Staff:                                          

    Secretary and Economist                       Vincent R. Reinhart
    Deputy Secretary                              Deborah Danker
    Assistant Secretary                           David Skidmore
    General Counsel                               Scott G. Alvarez
    Economists                                    Karen H. Johnson, 
                                                          David J. 
                                                          Stockton

    Federal Advisory Councils:                      

    Secretary, Federal Advisory Council           Thomas A. Renyi
    Chairman, Consumer Advisory Council           Lori R. Swanson
    President, Thrift Institutions                Roy M. Whitehead
            Advisory Council

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The Federal Reserve System, the central bank of the United States, is 
charged with administering and formulating the Nation's credit and 
monetary policy. Through its supervisory and regulatory banking 
functions, the Federal Reserve maintains the safety and soundness of the 
Nation's economy, responding to the Nation's domestic and international 
financial needs and objectives.

The Federal Reserve System was established by the Federal Reserve Act 
(12 U.S.C. 221), approved December 23, 1913. The System serves as the 
Nation's central bank. As such, its major responsibility is in the 
execution of monetary policy. It also performs other functions, such as 
the transfer of funds, handling Government deposits and debt issues, 
supervising and regulating banks, and acting as lender of last resort.
    It is the responsibility of the Federal Reserve System to contribute 
to the strength and vitality of the U.S. economy. By influencing the 
lending and investing activities of depository institutions and the cost 
and availability of money and credit, the Federal Reserve System helps 
promote the full use of human and capital resources, the growth of 
productivity, relatively stable prices, and equilibrium in the Nation's 
international balance of payments. Through its supervisory and 
regulatory banking functions, the Federal Reserve System helps maintain 
a commercial banking system that is responsive to the Nation's financial 
needs and objectives.
    The System consists of the Board of Governors in Washington, DC; the 
12 Federal Reserve Banks and their 25 branches and other facilities 
situated throughout the country; the Federal Open Market Committee; the 
Federal Advisory Council; the Consumer Advisory Council; the Thrift 
Institutions Advisory Council; and the Nation's financial institutions, 
including

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commercial banks, savings and loan associations, mutual savings banks, 
and credit unions.

Board of Governors

The Board is composed of seven members appointed by the President with 
the advice and consent of the Senate. The Chairman of the Board of 
Governors is a member of the National Advisory Council on International 
Monetary and Financial Policies. The Board determines general monetary, 
credit, and operating policies for the System as a whole and formulates 
the rules and regulations necessary to carry out the purposes of the 
Federal Reserve Act. The Board's principal duties consist of monitoring 
credit conditions; supervising the Federal Reserve Banks, member banks, 
and bank holding companies; and regulating the implementation of certain 
consumer credit protection laws.
Power To Influence Credit Conditions  The Board has the power, within 
statutory limitations, to fix the requirements concerning reserves to be 
maintained by depository institutions on transaction accounts or 
nonpersonal time deposits. The Board of Governors reviews and determines 
the discount rate charged by the Federal Reserve Banks. For the purpose 
of preventing excessive use of credit for the purchase or carrying of 
securities, the Board is authorized to regulate the amount of credit 
that may be initially extended and subsequently maintained on any 
security (with certain exceptions).
Supervision of Federal Reserve Banks  The Board is authorized to make 
examinations of the Federal Reserve Banks, to require statements and 
reports from such Banks, to supervise the issue and retirement of 
Federal Reserve notes, to require the establishment or discontinuance of 
branches of Reserve Banks, and to exercise supervision over all 
relationships and transactions of those Banks with foreign branches.
Supervision of Bank Holding Companies  The Federal Reserve has primary 
responsibility for supervising and regulating the activities of bank 
holding companies. The main objectives of this activity are to control 
the expansion of bank holding companies by avoiding the creation of 
monopoly or restraining trade in banking, and to limit the expansion of 
bank holding companies to those nonbanking activities that are closely 
related to banking, thus maintaining a separation between banking and 
commerce. A company that seeks to become a bank holding company must 
obtain the prior approval of the Federal Reserve. Any company that 
qualifies as a bank holding company must register with the Federal 
Reserve System and file reports with the System.
Supervision of Banking Organizations  The Federal Reserve is responsible 
for the supervision and regulation of domestic and international 
activities of U.S. banking organizations. It supervises State-chartered 
banks that are members of the System, all bank holding companies, and 
Edge Act and agreement corporations (corporations chartered to engage in 
international banking).
    The Board has jurisdiction over the admission of State banks and 
trust companies to membership in the Federal Reserve System, the 
termination of membership of such banks, the establishment of branches 
by such banks, and the approval of bank mergers and consolidations where 
the resulting institution will be a State member bank. It receives 
copies of condition reports submitted to the Federal Reserve Banks. It 
has power to examine all member banks and the affiliates of member banks 
and to require condition reports from them. It has authority to require 
periodic and other public disclosure of information with respect to an 
equity security of a State member bank that is held by 500 or more 
persons. It establishes minimum standards with respect to installation, 
maintenance, and operation of security devices and procedures by State 
member banks. Also, it has authority to issue cease-and-desist orders in 
connection with violations of law or unsafe or unsound banking practices 
by State member banks and to remove directors or officers of such banks 
in certain circumstances, and it may suspend member banks from

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the use of the credit facilities of the Federal Reserve System for 
making undue use of bank credit for speculative purposes or for any 
other purpose inconsistent with the maintenance of sound credit 
conditions.
    The Board may grant authority to member banks to establish branches 
in foreign countries or dependencies or insular possessions of the 
United States, to invest in the stocks of banks or corporations engaged 
in international or foreign banking, or to invest in foreign banks. It 
also charters, regulates, and supervises certain corporations that 
engage in foreign or international banking and financial activities.
    The Board is authorized to issue general regulations permitting 
interlocking relationships in certain circumstances between member banks 
and organizations dealing in securities or between member banks and 
other banks.
Other Activities  The Board reviews other bank stock acquisitions, as 
listed below.
    The Board prescribes regulations to ensure a meaningful disclosure 
by lenders of credit terms so that consumers will be able to compare 
more readily the various credit terms available and will be informed 
about rules governing credit cards, including their potential liability 
for unauthorized use.
    The Board has authority to impose reserve requirements and interest 
rate ceilings on branches and agencies of foreign banks in the United 
States, to grant loans to them, to provide them access to Federal 
Reserve services, and to limit their interstate banking activities.

Federal Open Market Committee

The Federal Open Market Committee is comprised of the Board of Governors 
and five of the presidents of the Reserve Banks. The Chairman of the 
Board of Governors is traditionally the Chairman of the Committee. The 
president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York serves as a permanent 
member of the Committee. Four of the twelve Reserve Bank presidents 
rotate annually as members of the Committee.
    Open market operations of the Reserve Banks are conducted under 
regulations adopted by the Committee and pursuant to specific policy 
directives issued by the Committee, which meets in Washington at 
frequent intervals. Purchases and sales of securities in the open market 
are undertaken to supply bank reserves to support the credit and money 
needed for long-term economic growth, to offset cyclical economic 
swings, and to accommodate seasonal demands of businesses and consumers 
for money and credit. These operations are carried out principally in 
U.S. Government obligations, but they also include purchases and sales 
of Federal agency obligations. All operations are conducted in New York, 
where the primary markets for these securities are located; the Federal 
Reserve Bank of New York executes transactions for the Federal Reserve 
System Open Market Account in carrying out these operations.
    Under the Committee's direction, the Federal Reserve Bank of New 
York also undertakes transactions in foreign currencies for the Federal 
Reserve System Open Market Account. The purposes of these operations 
include helping to safeguard the value of the dollar in international 
exchange markets and facilitating growth in international liquidity in 
accordance with the needs of an expanding world economy.

Federal Reserve Banks

The 12 Federal Reserve Banks are located in Atlanta, GA; Boston, MA; 
Chicago, IL; Cleveland, OH; Dallas, TX; Kansas City, MO; Minneapolis, 
MN; New York, NY; Philadelphia, PA; Richmond, VA; San Francisco, CA; and 
St. Louis, MO. Branch banks are located in Baltimore, MD; Birmingham, 
AL; Buffalo, NY; Charlotte, NC; Cincinnati, OH; Denver, CO; Detroit, MI; 
El Paso, TX; Helena, MT; Houston, TX; Jacksonville, FL; Little Rock, AR; 
Los Angeles, CA; Louisville, KY; Memphis, TN; Miami, FL; Nashville, TN; 
New Orleans, LA; Oklahoma City, OK; Omaha, NE; Pittsburgh, PA; Portland, 
OR; Salt Lake City, UT; San Antonio, TX; and Seattle, WA.
Reserves on Deposit  The Reserve Banks receive and hold on deposit the

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reserve or clearing account deposits of depository institutions. These 
banks are permitted to count their vault cash as part of their required 
reserve.
Extensions of Credit  The Federal Reserve is required to open its 
discount window to any depository institution that is subject to Federal 
Reserve reserve requirements on transaction accounts or nonpersonal time 
deposits. Discount window credit provides for Federal Reserve lending to 
eligible depository institutions under two basic programs. One is the 
adjustment credit program; the other supplies more extended credit for 
certain limited purposes.
    Short-term adjustment credit is the primary type of Federal Reserve 
credit. It is available to help borrowers meet temporary requirements 
for funds. Borrowers are not permitted to use adjustment credit to take 
advantage of any spread between the discount rate and market rates.
    Extended credit is provided through three programs designed to 
assist depository institutions in meeting longer term needs for funds. 
One provides seasonal credit--for periods running up to 9 months--to 
smaller depository institutions that lack access to market funds. A 
second program assists institutions that experience special difficulties 
arising from exceptional circumstances or practices involving only that 
institution. Finally, in cases where more general liquidity strains are 
affecting a broad range of depository institutions--such as those whose 
portfolios consist primarily of longer term assets--credit may be 
provided to address the problems of particular institutions being 
affected by the general situation.
Currency Issue  The Reserve Banks issue Federal Reserve notes, which 
constitute the bulk of money in circulation. These notes are obligations 
of the United States and are a prior lien upon the assets of the issuing 
Federal Reserve Bank. They are issued against a pledge by the Reserve 
Bank with the Federal Reserve agent of collateral security including 
gold certificates, paper discounted or purchased by the Bank, and direct 
obligations of the United States.
Other Powers  The Reserve Banks are empowered to act as clearinghouses 
and as collecting agents for depository institutions in the collection 
of checks and other instruments. They are also authorized to act as 
depositories and fiscal agents of the United States and to exercise 
other banking functions specified in the Federal Reserve Act. They 
perform a number of important functions in connection with the issue and 
redemption of United States Government securities.

Sources of Information

Employment  Written inquiries regarding employment should be addressed 
to the Director, Division of Personnel, Board of Governors of the 
Federal Reserve System, Washington, DC 20551.
Procurement  Firms seeking business with the Board should address their 
inquiries to the Director, Division of Support Services, Board of 
Governors of the Federal Reserve System, Washington, DC 20551.
Publications  Among the publications issued by the Board are The Federal 
Reserve System--Purposes and Functions, and a series of pamphlets 
including Guide to Business Credit and the Equal Credit Opportunity Act; 
Consumer Handbook; Making Deposits: When Will Your Money Be Available; 
and When Your Home Is On the Line: What You Should Know About Home 
Equity Lines of Credit. Copies of these pamphlets are available free of 
charge. Information regarding publications may be obtained in Room MP-
510 (Martin Building) of the Board's headquarters. Phone, 202-452-3244.
Reading Room  A reading room where persons may inspect records that are 
available to the public is located in Room B-1122 at the Board's 
headquarters, Twentieth Street and Constitution Avenue NW., Washington, 
DC. Information regarding the availability of records may be obtained by 
calling 202-452-3684.

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For further information, contact the Office of Public Affairs, Board of 
Governors, Federal Reserve System, Washington, DC 20551. Phone, 202-452-
3204 or 202-452-3215. Internet, www.federalreserve.gov.

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