Federal+Reserve+Bank

The Federal Reserve Bank

The Federal Reserve System is not "owned" by anyone and is not a private, profit-making institution. Instead, it is an independent entity within the government, having both public purposes and private aspects. The "Fed" was instantiated by congress and was put in place to stabilize and formalize the banking system within the country. The primary role of the federal reserve bank is to implement monetary policy to keep a balance between steady economic growth and high levels of inflation.

The Responsibilities
 * conducting the nation's monetary policy by influencing money and credit conditions in the economy in pursuit of full employment and stable prices
 * supervising and regulating banking institutions to ensure the safety and soundness of the nation's banking and financial system and to protect the credit rights of consumers
 * maintaining the stability of the financial system and containing systemic risk that may arise in financial markets
 * providing certain financial services to the U.S. government, to the public, to financial institutions, and to foreign official institutions, including playing a major role in operating the nation's payments systems