Office address: 20th Street and Constitution Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20551
Website: federalreserve.gov
Year established: 1913
Company type: central bank (federal agency)
Employees: 24,000+
Expertise: monetary policy, financial system stability, bank supervision and regulation, payment systems and settlement, consumer protection, community development, economic research and analysis, financial institution examination
Parent company: US Government
Key people: Jerome Powell (chair); Philip Jefferson (vice chair); Michelle Bowman (vice chair for supervision); Michael Barr, Lisa Cook, Stephen Miran, and Christopher Waller (governors)
Financing status: N/A
The Federal Reserve operates as the US central bank from Washington, DC. The organization conducts monetary policy, supervises financial institutions, and runs payment systems. Also called “The Fed”, it has 24,000 staff, 12 regional banks, and 24 branches nationwide as of 2025.
In 1913, Congress founded the Federal Reserve to address repeated financial crises. The new system featured 12 regional banks overseen by a central Board in Washington.
Banks could borrow cash during tight times by pledging their loans as collateral. The Fed also transformed payment systems, making check clearing faster and check movement smoother nationwide.
October 1929 brought a stock market crash that led to the Great Depression. Congress blamed the Fed for failing to prevent bank collapses during the financial panic.
Power shifted from regional banks to the central Board of Governors in DC. The Treasury competed with the Fed for control over monetary policy for the next two decades.
World War II forced the Federal Reserve to keep government bond rates locked below 2.5 percent. After 1945, inflation exploded as wage and price controls vanished overnight.
The Treasury wanted low rates to service its debt, but the Federal Reserve wanted higher rates to fight inflation. The Accord of 1951 finally freed the Fed from Treasury control and gave it true independence from that point on.
Stagflation (high inflation and high unemployment) hit hard in the 1970s when inflation and unemployment both climbed together. Paul Volcker took over and raised interest rates sky-high to crush inflation completely. His brutal approach triggered a nasty recession but killed inflation for good.
The 2008 financial crisis and 2020 COVID pandemic also forced the Federal Reserve to slash rates to zero and buy trillions in securities to stabilize markets.
Now the Fed faces a new test: artificial intelligence spreading through banking systems fast. Governor Michael Barr warned in 2025 that banks are moving too quickly into AI without guardrails in place. AI systems trading with each other could spike market volatility or trigger systemic risk across markets.
The Federal Reserve also understands AI will transform finance eventually but waits for solid evidence before making big calls. Unlike Fed Chair Alan Greenspan in the 1990s, today's leaders won't bet heavily on technology promises.
The Federal Reserve provides essential financial tools that support banking and economic stability nationwide:
The Federal Reserve funds community projects, teaches banking basics, shares research data, and offers multilingual access. It also publishes research that economists and policymakers rely on daily. Through 12 regional banks, the organization serves communities nationwide with financial support.
The Federal Reserve maintains strict ethical standards to ensure fair decision-making and public trust. It also says that employees must follow ethics rules to prevent actual and perceived conflicts of interest.
The organization provides extensive benefits to its workforce:
For students who seek hands-on experience, the Federal Reserve internship targets undergraduates and graduates in economics, finance, software development, and law. Interns create personal learning goals, work with assigned mentors, and attend weekly networking events.
Jerome Powell leads the Federal Reserve Board as chair and heads the Federal Open Market Committee. Before joining the Fed, Powell worked at the Bipartisan Policy Center focusing on federal and state budget matters. Powell earned a politics degree from Princeton University and a law degree from Georgetown University.
The Board of Governors includes six additional members who guide the organization:
Board members are nominated by the president and confirmed by the senate to 14-year terms. No governor can serve two full consecutive terms, though those finishing unexpired terms may be reappointed.
The Federal Reserve has been discussed in the context of how it adjusts policy based on labor market weakness and inflation. At the 2025 Future Proof Festival, an annual investment and wealth management industry conference, former Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas President Rob Kaplan spoke on a panel.
He noted that weak job markets force the Fed to act on rate cuts despite inflation still running above target. He also emphasized that the Federal Reserve's role is to respond to current economic conditions rather than market expectations for future years.
The organization also uses balance sheet management and interest rate policy to support employment and control inflation. For example, in October 2025, Powell hinted at pausing balance sheet reductions as labor market weakness grew. Interest payments on bank reserves help the Fed maintain control over short-term interest rates effectively.
The following transcript is from "What the Crisis Means for Long-Term Investing," an InvestmentNews webcast held Oct. 7.
It is time for politicians of all stripes to stop blaming the financial crisis on "Wall Street greed" and level with the American public.
Brokers and industry observers worry that the Department of the Treasury's capital purchase program to inject $250 billion into the financial services industry could mark a new era of government control and mistrust of the industry.
New York Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo has demanded that AIG recover the money it spent on lavish outings, bonuses and golden parachutes — and threatened sanctions if the insurer didn’t heed the order.
The U.S. economy appears to be in a recession, San Francisco Federal Reserve Bank president Janet Yellen said yesterday, according to published reports.
In an effort to breathe life into the struggling economy, the Treasury Department will inject $250 billion into banks, while the FDIC took steps to help depositors.
The U.S. economy shed 159,000 jobs in September, marking the highest number of jobs cut since March 2003.
Not mentioning its broker-dealer network, AIG said it wants to sell a number of business lines, but not its core property and casualty insurance lines.
If the outlines of the administration’s bailout plan are approved, the next secretary will have to take shots in the dark while walking a tightrope.
InvestmentNews argued last week that the entire regulatory system for the financial industry needs to be revamped, after an independent commission has thoroughly reviewed the factors that contributed to the mess.
Executives at small broker-dealers and regional investment banks see opportunity in the frenzy on Wall Street, but they worry that new regulations will be burdensome.
Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson today told a House committee he was open to considering limits on executive compensation in the Bush administration’s proposed $700 billion bailout package for the nation’s financial institutions.
“The last six months ... have made abundantly clear that voluntary regulation doesn’t work,” Mr. Cox said in prepared testimony at a hearing of the Senate Banking Committee.
Lawmakers must take steps stabilize a financial situation that could pose “very serious consequences” for the U.S. “financial markets and for our economy," said Fed chief Ben Bernanke.
Financial advisers could soon find themselves paying more for AIG's variable annuities.
