Federal Reserve Bank of New York
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Federal Reserve Bank of New York is the most important of the twelve Federal Reserve Banks of the United States. It is located in New York City, with a secondary office in Buffalo, New York. It is responsible for the Second District of the Federal Reserve System, which encompasses New York state, the 12 northern counties of New Jersey, Fairfield County in Connecticut, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.
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[edit] Largest regional Federal Reserve Bank
Since the founding of the Federal Reserve banking system, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York in Manhattan's Financial District has been where monetary policy in the United States is implemented, although policy is decided in Washington by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. The New York Fed is the largest, in terms of assets, and the most important of the twelve regional banks. Its first governor was Benjamin Strong Jr. who led it for 14 years, until his death in 1928. New York City is the financial capital of the United States, and the New York Fed is responsible for conducting open market operations -- the buying and selling of outstanding U.S. Treasury securities. Note that the responsibility for issuing new U.S. Treasury securities lies with the Bureau of the Public Debt. In 2003, Fedwire, the Federal Reserve's system for transferring balances between it and other banks, transferred $1.8 trillion a day in funds, of which about $1.1 trillion originated in the Second District. It transferred an additional $1.3 trillion a day in securities, of which $1.2 trillion originated in the Second District. The New York Fed is also responsible for carrying out exchange rate policy by buying and selling dollars at the direction of the Federal Reserve's Board of Governors. The New York Federal Reserve is the only regional bank with a permanent vote on the Federal Open Market Committee and its president is traditionally selected as the Committee's vice chairman. The current president is Timothy F. Geithner.
[edit] The largest gold repository in the United States
The Federal Reserve Bank of New York maintains an underground vault in Manhattan. Reputedly it is the largest gold repository in the world (though this cannot be confirmed as Swiss Banks do not report their gold stocks). In The US The FRBNY's stocks are larger even than Fort Knox, it is 80 feet (25 m) beneath the street and holds approx 5,000 tonnes of gold bullion ($90 billion worth at 2006 prices). The gold is owned by many foreign nations, central banks and official international organizations. The Federal Reserve Bank does not own the gold but serves as guardian of the precious metal, which it "protects" at no charge as a gesture of good will to other nations. Free tours of the vault are available to the public.
[edit] Past presidents
Presidents of the bank since its founding have been:
- Timothy F. Geithner, 2003 - present
- William J. McDonough, 1993 - 2003
- E. Gerald Corrigan, 1985 - 1993
- Anthony M. Solomon, 1980 - 1985
- Paul Volcker, 1975 - 1979
- Alfred Hayes, 1956 - 1975
- Allan Sproul, 1941 - 1956
- George L. Harrison, 1928 - 1940
- Benjamin Strong Jr., 1914 - 1928
[edit] Fictional accounts
- The 1995 Bruce Willis action movie Die Hard: With a Vengeance depicts a daring robbery of the New York Fed's gold depository.
