The Federal Reserve System (also known as the Federal Reserve, and informally as the Fed) is the central banking system of the United States. It was created in 1913 by the enactment of the Federal Reserve Act, largely as a response to a series of financial panics or bank runs, particularly a severe panic in 1907. Over time, the roles and responsibilities of the Federal Reserve System have expanded and its structure has evolved. Events such as the Great Depression were some of the major factors leading to changes in the system. Its duties today, according to official Federal Reserve documentation, fall into four general areas:

1. Conducting the nation's monetary policy by influencing the monetary and credit conditions in the economy in pursuit of maximum employment, stable prices, and moderate long-term interest rates.
2. Supervising and regulating banking institutions to ensure the safety and soundness of the nation's banking and financial system and to protect the credit rights of consumers.
3. Maintaining the stability of the financial system and containing systemic risk that may arise in financial markets.
4. Providing financial services to depository institutions, the U.S. government, and foreign official institutions, including playing a major role in operating the nation's payments system.

Federal Reserve System is not "owned" by anyone and is not a private, profit-making institution. Instead, it is an independent entity within the government, having both public purposes and private aspects.:

According to the Federal Reserve, there are presently five different parts of the Federal Reserve System:

1. The presidentially appointed Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, a governmental agency in Washington, D.C.
2. The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), which oversees Open Market Operations, the principal tool of national monetary policy.
3. Twelve regional privately-owned Federal Reserve Banks located in major cities throughout the nation, which divide the nation into 12 districts, acting as fiscal agents for the U.S. Treasury, each with its own nine-member board of directors.
4. Numerous other private U.S. member banks, which subscribe to required amounts of non-transferable stock in their regional Federal Reserve Banks.
5. Various advisory councils.

The structure of the central banking system in the United States is unique compared to others' in the world, in that an entity outside of the central bank creates the currency. This other entity is the United States Department of the Treasury.

• Journals@ (10)

See also:

• Regional: North America: United States: Business and Economy: Financial Services (27)
• Regional: North America: United States: Government (12,368)
• Science: Social Sciences: Economics: Indicators and Statistics: Official Statistics: North America: United States (8)
• Science: Social Sciences: Economics: People: Greenspan, Alan (3)

• Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City
  kansascityfed.org
  Tenth Federal Reserve District, which comprises Kansas, Colorado, Nebraska, and Oklahoma. Economic and banking information, especially about rural America.
• Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago
  chicagofed.org
  Seventh Federal Reserve District, which comprises Iowa, Indiana, Michigan, Wisconsin and most of Illinois. Economic, banking and historical information.
• Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas
  dallasfed.org
  Eleventh Federal Reserve, which comprises Texas, northern Louisiana and southern New Mexico. Banking and economic information.