Directors of Federal Reserve Banks and Branches

Federal Reserve Bulletin, May, 1999

Regional decentralization and a combination of governmental and private characteristics are important hallmarks of the uniqueness of the Federal Reserve System. Under the Federal Reserve Act, decentralization was achieved by division of the country into twelve regions called Federal Reserve Districts and the establishment in each District of a separately incorporated Federal Reserve Bank with its own board of directors. The blending of governmental and private characteristics is provided through ownership of the stock of the Reserve Bank by member banks in its District, which also elect the majority of the board of directors, and by the general supervision of the Reserve Banks by the Board of Governors, an agency of the federal government. The Board also appoints a minority of each board of directors. Thus, there are essential elements of regional participation and counsel in the conduct of the System's affairs for which the Federal Reserve relies importantly on the contributions of the directors of the Federal Reserve Banks and Branches.

The following list of directors of Federal Reserve Banks and Branches shows for each director the class of directorship, the principal business affiliation, and the date the current term expires. Each Federal Reserve Bank has nine members on its board of directors: The member banks elect the three Class A and three Class B directors, and the Board of Governors appoints the three directors in Class C. Directors are chosen without discrimination as to race, creed, color, sex, or national origin.

Class A directors of each Reserve Bank represent the stockholding member banks of the Federal Reserve District. Class B and Class C directors represent the public and are chosen with due, but not exclusive, consideration to the interests of agriculture, commerce, industry, services, labor, and consumers; they may not be officers, directors, or employees of any bank. In addition, Class C directors may not be stockholders of any bank. The Board of Governors designates annually one Class C director as chairman of the board of directors of each District Bank and designates another Class C director as deputy chairman.

Each of the twenty-five Branches of the Federal Reserve Banks has a board of either seven or five directors, a majority of whom are appointed by the parent Federal Reserve Bank; the others are appointed by the Board of Governors. One of the Board's appointees is designated annually as chairman of the board of that Branch in a manner prescribed by the parent Federal Reserve Bank.

The names of the chairman and deputy chairman of the board of directors of each Reserve Bank and of the chairman of each Branch are published monthly in the Federal Reserve Bulletin.(1)