The Fed Bailed Out A Libya-Owned Bank

Zero Hedge ^ | 03/31/2011 | Tyler Durden

[Leisler]

The public is political.

[RegulatorCountry]

Other than with lots of glowing adjectives, just how would you describe the Federal Reserve?

[Leisler]

Then it's a good thing we don't have a multinational privately held bank controlling monetary policyM

Very funny.

[Toddsterpatriot]

Their description sounds good to me....

The Federal Reserve System is not "owned" by anyone and is not a private, profit-making institution. Instead, it is an independent entity within the government, having both public purposes and private aspects.

As the nation's central bank, the Federal Reserve derives its authority from the U.S. Congress. It is considered an independent central bank because its decisions do not have to be ratified by the President or anyone else in the executive or legislative branch of government, it does not receive funding appropriated by Congress, and the terms of the members of the Board of Governors span multiple presidential and congressional terms. However, the Federal Reserve is subject to oversight by Congress, which periodically reviews its activities and can alter its responsibilities by statute. Also, the Federal Reserve must work within the framework of the overall objectives of economic and financial policy established by the government. Therefore, the Federal Reserve can be more accurately described as "independent within the government."

The twelve regional Federal Reserve Banks, which were established by Congress as the operating arms of the nation's central banking system, are organized much like private corporations--possibly leading to some confusion about "ownership." For example, the Reserve Banks issue shares of stock to member banks. However, owning Reserve Bank stock is quite different from owning stock in a private company. The Reserve Banks are not operated for profit, and ownership of a certain amount of stock is, by law, a condition of membership in the System. The stock may not be sold, traded, or pledged as security for a loan; dividends are, by law, 6 percent per year.

Source

[TruthConquers]

Zero Hedge is a great place to learn and read the comments.

Yeah, there are some flame wars and such there, but those are easy to skip. MUCH better discussions on all things financial there, lots of opinions.

Here, it tends to be any decent financial thread gets swamped with the “FED can do no wrong” crowd.

Boring.

[iopscusa]

FTR, more on SigTarp and ‘profitability’.
http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2011/03/of-course-theres-a-profit-on-the-bank-bailout/73294/