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U.S. Code as of:
01/19/04
Section 248. Enumerated powers
The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System shall be
authorized and empowered:
(a) Examination of accounts and affairs of banks; publication of
weekly statements; reports of liabilities and assets of
depository institutions; covered institutions
(1) To examine at its discretion the accounts, books, and affairs
of each Federal reserve bank and of each member bank and to require
such statements and reports as it may deem necessary. The said
board shall publish once each week a statement showing the
condition of each Federal reserve bank and a consolidated statement
for all Federal reserve banks. Such statements shall show in detail
the assets and liabilities of the Federal reserve banks, single and
combined, and shall furnish full information regarding the
character of the money held as reserve and the amount, nature, and
maturities of the paper and other investments owned or held by
Federal reserve banks.
(2) To require any depository institution specified in this
paragraph to make, at such intervals as the Board may prescribe,
such reports of its liabilities and assets as the Board may
determine to be necessary or desirable to enable the Board to
discharge its responsibility to monitor and control monetary and
credit aggregates. Such reports shall be made (A) directly to the
Board in the case of member banks and in the case of other
depository institutions whose reserve requirements under sections
461, 463, 464, 465, and 466 of this title exceed zero, and (B) for
all other reports to the Board through the (i) Federal Deposit
Insurance Corporation in the case of insured State nonmember banks,
savings banks, and mutual savings banks, (ii) National Credit Union
Administration Board in the case of insured credit unions, (iii)
the Director of the Office of Thrift Supervision in the case of any
savings association which is an insured depository institution (as
defined in section 1813 of this title) or which is a member as
defined in section 1422 of this title, and (iv) such State officer
or agency as the Board may designate in the case of any other type
of bank, savings and loan association, or credit union. The Board
shall endeavor to avoid the imposition of unnecessary burdens on
reporting institutions and the duplication of other reporting
requirements. Except as otherwise required by law, any data
provided to any department, agency, or instrumentality of the
United States pursuant to other reporting requirement shall be made
available to the Board. The Board may classify depository
institutions for the purposes of this paragraph and may impose
different requirements on each such class.
(b) Permitting or requiring rediscounting of paper at specified
rate
To permit, or, on the affirmative vote of at least five members
of the Board of Governors, to require Federal reserve banks to
rediscount the discounted paper of other Federal reserve banks at
rates of interest to be fixed by the Board.
(c) Suspending reserve requirements
To suspend for a period not exceeding thirty days, and from time
to time to renew such suspension for periods not exceeding fifteen
days, any reserve requirements specified in this chapter.
(d) Supervising and regulating issue and retirement of notes
To supervise and regulate through the Secretary of the Treasury
the issue and retirement of Federal Reserve notes, except for the
cancellation and destruction, and accounting with respect to such
cancellation and destruction, of notes unfit for circulation, and
to prescribe rules and regulations under which such notes may be
delivered by the Secretary of the Treasury to the Federal Reserve
agents applying therefor.
(e) Adding to or reclassifying reserve cities
To add to the number of cities classified as reserve cities under
existing law in which national banking associations are subject to
the reserve requirements set forth in section 20 of this Act, or to
reclassify existing reserve cities or to terminate their
designation as such.
(f) Suspending or removing officers or directors of reserve banks
To suspend or remove any officer or director of any Federal
reserve bank, the cause of such removal to be forthwith
communicated in writing by the Board of Governors of the Federal
Reserve System to the removed officer or director and to said bank.
(g) Requiring writing off of doubtful or worthless assets of banks
To require the writing off of doubtful or worthless assets upon
the books and balance sheets of Federal reserve banks.
(h) Suspending operations of or liquidating or reorganizing banks
To suspend, for the violation of any of the provisions of this
chapter, the operations of any Federal reserve bank, to take
possession thereof, administer the same during the period of
suspension, and, when deemed advisable, to liquidate or reorganize
such bank.
(i) Requiring bonds of agents; safeguarding property in hands of
agents
To require bonds of Federal reserve agents, to make regulations
for the safeguarding of all collateral, bonds, Federal reserve
notes, money, or property of any kind deposited in the hands of
such agents, and said board shall perform the duties, functions, or
services specified in this chapter, and make all rules and
regulations necessary to enable said board effectively to perform
the same.
(j) Exercising supervision over reserve banks
To exercise general supervision over said Federal reserve banks.
(k) Delegation of certain functions; power to delegate; review of
delegated activities
To delegate, by published order or rule and subject to subchapter
II of chapter 5, and chapter 7, of title 5, any of its functions,
other than those relating to rulemaking or pertaining principally
to monetary and credit policies, to one or more administrative law
judges, members or employees of the Board, or Federal Reserve
banks. The assignment of responsibility for the performance of any
function that the Board determines to delegate shall be a function
of the Chairman. The Board shall, upon the vote of one member,
review action taken at a delegated level within such time and in
such manner as the Board shall by rule prescribe.
(l) Employing attorneys, experts, assistants, and clerks; salaries
and fees
To employ such attorneys, experts, assistants, clerks, or other
employees as may be deemed necessary to conduct the business of the
board. All salaries and fees shall be fixed in advance by said
board and shall be paid in the same manner as the salaries of the
members of said board. All such attorneys, experts, assistants,
clerks, and other employees shall be appointed without regard to
the provisions of the Act of January sixteenth, eighteen hundred
and eighty-three (volume twenty-two, United States Statutes at
Large, page four hundred and three), and amendments thereto, or any
rule or regulation made in pursuance thereof: Provided, That
nothing herein shall prevent the President from placing said
employees in the classified service.
(m) [Repealed]
(n) Board's authority to examine depository institutions and
affiliates
To examine, at the Board's discretion, any depository
institution, and any affiliate of such depository institution, in
connection with any advance to, any discount of any instrument for,
or any request for any such advance or discount by, such depository
institution under this chapter.
(o) Authority to appoint conservator or receiver
The Board may appoint the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
as conservator or receiver for a State member bank under section
1821(c)(9) of this title.
(p) Authority
The Board may act in its own name and through its own attorneys
in enforcing any provision of this title,(!1) regulations
promulgated hereunder, or any other law or regulation, or in any
action, suit, or proceeding to which the Board is a party and which
involves the Board's regulation or supervision of any bank, bank
holding company (as defined in section 1841 of this title), or
other entity, or the administration of its operations.
(q) Uniform protection authority for Federal reserve facilities
(1) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, to authorize
personnel to act as law enforcement officers to protect and
safeguard the premises, grounds, property, personnel, including
members of the Board, of the Board, or any Federal reserve bank,
and operations conducted by or on behalf of the Board or a reserve
bank.
(2) The Board may, subject to the regulations prescribed under
paragraph (5), delegate authority to a Federal reserve bank to
authorize personnel to act as law enforcement officers to protect
and safeguard the bank's premises, grounds, property, personnel,
and operations conducted by or on behalf of the bank.
(3) Law enforcement officers designated or authorized by the
Board or a reserve bank under paragraph (1) or (2) are authorized
while on duty to carry firearms and make arrests without warrants
for any offense against the United States committed in their
presence, or for any felony cognizable under the laws of the United
States committed or being committed within the buildings and
grounds of the Board or a reserve bank if they have reasonable
grounds to believe that the person to be arrested has committed or
is committing such a felony. Such officers shall have access to law
enforcement information that may be necessary for the protection of
the property or personnel of the Board or a reserve bank.
(4) For purposes of this subsection, the term "law enforcement
officers" means personnel who have successfully completed law
enforcement training and are authorized to carry firearms and make
arrests pursuant to this subsection.
(5) The law enforcement authorities provided for in this
subsection may be exercised only pursuant to regulations prescribed
by the Board and approved by the Attorney General.
(r) Voting; documentation of determinations
(1) Any action that this chapter provides may be taken only upon
the affirmative vote of 5 members of the Board may be taken upon
the unanimous vote of all members then in office if there are fewer
than 5 members in office at the time of the action.
(2)(A) Any action that the Board is otherwise authorized to take
under the second paragraph of section 343 of this title may be
taken upon the unanimous vote of all available members then in
office, if -
(i) at least 2 members are available and all available members
participate in the action;
(ii) the available members unanimously determine that -
(I) unusual and exigent circumstances exist and the borrower
is unable to secure adequate credit accommodations from other
sources;
(II) action on the matter is necessary to prevent, correct,
or mitigate serious harm to the economy or the stability of the
financial system of the United States;
(III) despite the use of all means available (including all
available telephonic, telegraphic, and other electronic means),
the other members of the Board have not been able to be
contacted on the matter; and
(IV) action on the matter is required before the number of
Board members otherwise required to vote on the matter can be
contacted through any available means (including all available
telephonic, telegraphic, and other electronic means); and
(iii) any credit extended by a Federal reserve bank pursuant to
such action is payable upon demand of the Board.
(B) The available members of the Board shall document in writing
the determinations required by subparagraph (A)(ii), and such
written findings shall be included in the record of the action and
in the official minutes of the Board, and copies of such record
shall be provided as soon as practicable to the members of the
Board who were not available to participate in the action and to
the Chairman of the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban
Affairs of the Senate and to the Chairman of the Committee on
Financial Services of the House of Representatives.
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