The Federal Reserve System (also known as Fed) is the central bank of the United States. It was founded to provide the country with a safe, flexible, and stable monetary and financial system.
Federal Reserve is governed by the presidentially-appointed board of governors or FRB. It is usually responsible for the formulation of monetary policy and the regulation of member banks.
Fed is composed of 12 regional Federal Reserve Banks that are each responsible for a specific geographic area of the US. Fed has a board that is comprised of 7 members.
The 12 Federal Reserve regional banks are located in Boston, Atlanta, Chicago, Philadelphia, Cleveland, Dallas, Minneapolis, Kansas City, New York, Richmond, San Francisco and St. Louis.
The Federal Reserve is an independent entity established by the Federal Reserve Act of 1913. The board and FOMC make the Fed's decisions independently based on research.
The Fed's main duties include conducting national monetary policy, supervising and regulating banks, maintaining financial stability, and providing banking services.