Who are the members?
"The members of the Board of Governors are nominated by the President of the United States and confirmed by the U.S. Senate."
"The Board of Governors, also known as the Federal Reserve Board, is the national component of the Federal Reserve System. The board consists of the seven governors, appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate. Governors serve 14-year, staggered terms to ensure stability and continuity over time. The chairman and vice-chairman are appointed to four-year terms and may be reappointed subject to term limitations."
"Any state-chartered bank (mutual or stock-formed) may become a member of the Federal Reserve System. The twelve regional Reserve Banks supervise state member banks as part of the Federal Reserve System's mandate to assure strength and stability in the nation's domestic markets and banking system."
How are the members chosen?
"Under the Federal Reserve Act, each of the twelve Reserve Banks is separately incorporated with its own board of directors. In each Reserve District, commercial banks that are members of the Federal Reserve System own the stock of their District's Reserve Bank and elect the majority of the Reserve Bank's board of directors; the remainder of the directors are appointed by the Federal Reserve Board."
"Under Section 4 of the Federal Reserve Act, each Federal Reserve Bank, including the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, operates pursuant to the supervision of a Board of Directors, in addition to the general supervision of the Board of Governors in Washington, D.C. The Bank’s Board of Directors has nine members, all chosen from outside the Reserve Bank, who are divided into three equal classes--designated A, B and C."
"The Board expects the directors of the Federal Reserve Banks and their branches to be individuals who can contribute to the System's understanding of the economic conditions of their district and the effect of these conditions on the economy as a whole. Accordingly, directors should be familiar with the economic and business community of the region for which they are selected. In addition, directors should be respected in their community and able to meet their financial obligations. Candidates should be selected who will represent the interests statutorily designated for their class. No member of Congress or of the Board's Federal Advisory Council, Community Depository Institutions Advisory Council, or Consumer Advisory Council may simultaneously be a director of a Reserve Bank."
What do federal reserve members do?
"The most important policy making body of the Federal Reserve System is the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC). It is composed of the seven Governors, the president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, and four other Reserve Bank presidents that serve on a rotating basis. The FOMC can effect monetary policy through the use of three tools: "
- Open market operations--the buying and selling of U.S. government securities.
- Altering reserve requirements--the amount of funds that commercial banks must hold in reserve against deposits.
- Adjusting the discount rate--the interest rate charged to commercial banks.
"Monetary policy refers to the actions taken by the Federal Reserve to influence the availability and cost of money and credit to help promote the nation’s economic goal of non-inflationary growth. The Federal Reserve Act of 1913 gave the Federal Reserve responsibility for setting monetary policy. "
"This group is in charge of establishing, among other things, the relative value of the U.S. currency. It can influence the value of the dollar by controlling the supply of money through various means, including so-called open market operations. By using open market operations, the Fed boosts or shrinks the money supply by buying or selling various financial instruments, including Treasury securities."
Why do we need the federal reserve members?
"The Fed makes decisions over monetary policy to help maintain employment, keep prices stable, and keep interest rates at a level that helps the economy. It also supervises and regulates banks to make sure they are safe places for people to keep their money, and to protect consumers’ credit rights."
"All of the state and private banks competed with each other and the two U.S. Banks to make sure that their notes were redeemable for full face value. As you traveled around the country, you never knew exactly what kind of money you would get from the local banks. With America's population growing is size, mobility, and economic activity, this multiplicity of banks and kinds of money soon grew chaotic."
"By 1913, America's economic growth both at home and abroad required a more flexible, yet better controlled and safer banking system. The Federal Reserve Act of 1913 established the Federal Reserve System as the central banking authority of the United States."
Who can become federal reserve members?
"Federal Reserve staff have a well deserved reputation of being professional, dedicated and fair."
"Each state member bank must subscribe to capital stock in the Federal Reserve Bank of its district in an amount equal to six percent of its combined capital and surplus (but excluding retained earnings). However, only three percent must be paid-in, and the remaining three percent is on call. The paid-in portion currently earns an annual dividend of six percent. "
"A bank must file an application for prior Federal Reserve approval under section 18(c) or section 5(d)(3) of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act to merge with another bank or thrift institution, respectively, or to acquire the assets, or assume the liabilities, of another bank or thrift institution, if the resulting institution is to be a state member bank. "