In the United States, the Federal Reserve System was established in 1913 by the Federal Reserve Act. The primary basis for conceiving the Federal Reserve System was the mounting need to effectively regulate the U.S. monetary and banking system. The Federal Reserve System comprises twelve regional Federal Reserve Banks, as well as their twenty four sub-branches. The headquarters of the Federal Reserve System is located in Washington D.C. National and state banks are also part of the Federal Reserve System. Today, the Federal Reserve System is at the core of the nation’s monetary and regulation activity. The Federal Reserve System regulates the money supply, sets reserve requirements for member banks, and supervises the printing of currency at the mint. In addition to acting as a clearing house to transfer funds through the banking structure, the Federal Reserve System also provides many financial and research services to the U.S. government. |
