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A Federal Reserve Bank is a regional bank of the Federal Reserve System, the central banking system of the United States. There are twelve in total, one for each of the twelve Federal Reserve Districts that were created by the Federal Reserve Act of 1913. The banks are jointly responsible for implementing the monetary policy set forth by the Federal Open Market Committee, and are divided as follows: Some banks also possess branches, with the whole system being headquartered at the Eccles Building in Washington, D.C. ==History== Alexander Hamilton, the first Secretary of Treasury, started a movement in 1780 advocating for the creation of a central bank.〕}} The Bank Bill created by Hamilton was a proposal to institute a national bank in order to improve the economic stability of the nation after its independence from Britain. Although the national bank was to be used as a tool for the government, it was to be privately owned. Hamilton wrote several articles providing information regarding his national bank idea where he expressed the validity and "would be" success of the national bank based upon: incentives for the rich to invest, ownerships of bonds and shares, being rooted in fiscal management, and stable monetary system. In response to this, the First Bank of the United States was established in 1791, its charter signed by George Washington. The First Bank of the United States was headquartered in Philadelphia, but had branches in other major cities. The Bank performed the basic banking functions of accepting deposits, issuing bank notes, making loans and purchasing securities. When its charter expired 20 years later, the United States was without a central bank for a few years, during which it suffered an unusual inflation. In 1816, James Madison signed the Second Bank of the United States into existence. When, in 1833, before that bank's charter expired, President Jackson removed the government funds as part of the Bank War, and the United States went without a central bank for 40 years. A financial crisis known as the Panic of 1907 was headed off by a private conglomerate (led by J. P. Morgan), who set themselves up as "lenders of last resort" to banks in trouble.〔Gordon, John Steele, An Empire Of Wealth, Harper Perennial, 2005 (chapter needed, page number needed).〕() This effort succeeded in stopping the panic,〔 and led to calls for a Federal agency to do the same thing. In response to this, the Federal Reserve System was created by the Federal Reserve Act of December 23, 1913, establishing a new central bank intended to serve as a formal "lender of last resort" to banks in times of liquidity crisis—panics where depositors tried to withdraw their money faster than a normal fractional-reserve-based bank could pay it out. The Federal Reserve Act presented by Congressman Carter Glass and Senator Robert L. Owen incorporated modifications by Woodrow Wilson and allowed for a regional Federal Reserve System, operating under a supervisory board in Washington, D.C. Congress approved the Act, and President Wilson signed it into law on December 23, 1913. The Act, "Provided 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 Act provided for a Reserve Bank Organization Committee that would designate no less than eight but no more than twelve cities to be Federal Reserve cities, and would then divide the nation into districts, each district to contain one Federal Reserve City. The legislation provided for a system that included a number of regional Federal Reserve Banks and a seven-member governing board. All national banks were required to join the system and other banks could join. On April 2, 1914, the Reserve Bank Organization Committee announced its decision, and twelve Federal Reserve banks were established to cover various districts throughout the country. Those opposed to the establishment of an overwhelmingly powerful New York Fed prevailed in their desire that its scope and influence should be limited. Initially, this bank's influence was restricted to New York State. Nonetheless, with over $20,000,000 in capital stock, the New York Bank had nearly four times the capitalization of the smallest banks in the system, such as Atlanta and Minneapolis. As a result, it was impossible to prevent the New York Fed from being the largest and most dominant bank in the system. The Federal Reserve Banks opened for business in November 1914. The New York Fed opened for business under the leadership of Benjamin Strong, Jr. , previously president of the Bankers Trust Company, on November 16, 1914. The initial staff consisted of seven officers and 85 clerks, many on loan from local banks. Mr. Strong recalled the starting days at the Bank in a speech: "It may be said that the Bank's equipment consisted of little more than a copy of the Federal Reserve Act." During its first day of operation, the Bank took in $100 million from 211 member banks; made two rediscounts; and received its first shipment of Federal Reserve Notes. Congress created Federal Reserve notes to provide the nation with a flexible supply of currency. The notes were to be issued to Federal Reserve Banks for subsequent transmittal to banking institutions in accordance with the needs of the public. The U.S. Federal Reserve System or the “Fed” (of which the twelve regional Federal Reserve banks are a part) was created by an Act of Congress in 1913 in a response to a series of economic crises at the turn of the early 20th century. The Bank's staff grew rapidly during the early years, necessitating the need for a new home. Land was bought on a city block encompassing Liberty Street, Maiden Lane, William Street and Nassau Street. A public competition was held and the architectural firm of York & Sawyer submitted the winning design reminiscent of the palaces in Florence, Italy. The Bank's vaults, located 86 feet below street level, were built on Manhattan's bedrock. In 1924, the Fed moved into its new home. By 1927, the vault contained ten percent of the world's entire store of monetary gold.〔The Founding of the Fed .http://www.newyorkfed.org/aboutthefed/history_article.html〕 The Fed is an independent financial institution formed within the United States, that works separately from the executive or judicial branches of government. The Federal Reserve System is considered to be an independent agency that exists outside of the cabinet of the executive〔Kollman, Ken, The American Political System, Election 2012 update W.W. Norton & Company, 2012 (The Bureaucracy, p.217).〕 and its powers are derived directly from Congress. Over the past century, the Fed’s power has expanded from its original roles such as a private response to problems in banking systems〔Moen, J. R., & Tallman, E. W. (2003). New York and the Politics of Central Banks, 1781 to the Federal Reserve Act.〕 and to establishing a more effective supervisory role of banking systems in the United States,〔 to its now current position of being a lender of last resort to banking institutions that require additional credit to stay afloat. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Federal Reserve Bank」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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