Federal Reserve Act

Federal Reserve Act

Long title	An Act to provide 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
Enacted by	the 63rd United States Congress
Citations
Public law	[63-43 Pub.L. 63–43]
Statutes at Large	ch. 6, 38 Stat. 251
Legislative history
Introduced in the House as H.R. 7837 by Carter Glass (D-VA) on August 29, 1913 Committee consideration by House Banking, Senate Banking Passed the House on September 18, 1913 (287–85, 5 Present) Passed the Senate on December 18, 1913 (54–34) Reported by the joint conference committee on December 22, 1913; agreed to by the House on December 22, 1913 (298–60) and by the Senate on December 23, 1913 (43–25) Signed into law by President Woodrow Wilson on December 23, 1913
Major amendments
Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act

The Federal Reserve Act (ch. 6, 38 Stat. 251, enacted December 23, 1913, 12 U.S.C. ch. 3) is an Act of Congress that created and established the Federal Reserve System, the central banking system of the United States, and which created the authority to issue Federal Reserve Notes (now commonly known as the U.S. Dollar) and Federal Reserve Bank Notes as legal tender. The Act was signed into law by President Woodrow Wilson.

The Federal Reserve Act created a system of private and public entities. There were to be at least eight and no more than twelve private regional Federal Reserve banks. Twelve were established, and each had various branches, a board of directors, and district boundaries. The Federal Reserve Board, consisting of seven members, was created as the governing body of the Fed. Each member is appointed by the President of the U.S and confirmed by the U.S. Senate. In 1935, the Board was renamed and restructured. Also created as part of the Federal Reserve System was a 12-member Federal Advisory Committee and a single new United States currency, the Federal Reserve Note. The Federal Reserve Act created a national currency and a monetary system that could respond effectively to the stresses in the banking system and create a stable financial system. With the goal of creating a national monetary system and financial stability, the Federal Reserve Act also provided many other functions and financial services for the economy, such as check clearing and collection for all members of the Federal Reserve.

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