Federal Reserve Act
Dispersed throughout 12 USC; ch. 6, 38 Stat. 251 (December 23, 1913)
To provide for the establishment of Federal reserve banks, to furnish an elastic currency, to afford means of rediscounting commercial paper, to establish a more effective supervision of banking in the United States, and for other purposes.
The Federal Reserve, the central bank of the United States, was founded by Congress in 1913 to provide the nation with a safer, more flexible, and more stable monetary and financial system.
Today the Federal Reserve's duties fall into four general areas:
- conducting the nation's monetary policy
- supervising and regulating banking institutions and protecting the credit rights of consumers
- maintaining the stability of the financial system; and
- providing certain financial services to the U.S. government, the public, financial institutions, and foreign official institutions.