Board of Governors

The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System is a federal government agency. The Board is composed of seven members, who are appointed by the President of the United States and confirmed by the U.S. Senate. The Chairman and the Vice Chairman of the Board are also appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate. The nominees to these posts must already be members of the Board or must be simultaneously appointed to the Board.

The Board of Governors is supported by a staff in Washington, D.C., numbering about 1,800 as of 2004. The Board’s responsibilities require thorough analysis of domestic and international financial and economic developments.

 Federal Reserve System

 The Board of Governors also supervises and regulates the operations of the Federal Reserve Banks, exercises broad responsibility in the nation’s payments system, and administers most of the nation’s laws regarding consumer credit protection. Reserve Banks, supervise approximately 900 state member banks and 5,000 bank holding companies.

A network of twelve Federal Reserve Banks and their Branches carries out a variety of System functions, including operating a nationwide payments system, distributing the nation’s currency and coin, supervising and regulating member banks and bank holding companies, and serving as banker for the U.S. Treasury. The twelve Reserve Banks are each responsible for a particular geographic area or district of the United States

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