Federal Reserve Functions

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The Federal Reserve is the bank of banks. Its main purpose and mission is to provide the nation with a safer, more flexible, and more stable monetary and financial system. Since it was founded by Congress in 1913 its role has expanded and changed but its core mission remains the same. (federalreserve.gov) Today the mission of the Federal Reserve is to promote sustainable growth, high levels of employment, stability of prices to help preserve the purchasing power of the dollar and moderate long-term interest rates. (Investopedia.com) The structure of the Federal Reserve consists of a seven member Board of Governors and twelve Reserve Banks located in major cities throughout the United States. It can be broken down into four parts. The Board of Governers, Open Market, Reserve Bank, and Board of Directors. There are seven members on the Board of Governors. These members are appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate. The primary function of this board is to regulate monetary policy. The board is also responsible for implementing policy on federal laws that govern consumer credit such as the Truth in Lending Act and Equal Credit Opportunity. Expanding off of the Board of Governors brings us to the second pillar of the structure of the Federal Reserve which is Open…show more content…
There are twelve reserve banks located in major cities throughout the U.S. The banks are supervised by the Board of Governors. The function of the reserve bank system is to support the central bank whose mission is to influence the flow of money and credit in the nation's economy. Reserve Banks hold the cash reserves of depository institutions and make loans to them. They move money into and out of circulation, and collect and process checks. They provide checking accounts for the Treasury, issue and redeem government securities, and act in other ways as fiscal agent for the U.S. government.

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