SECTION 3—Central Organization

The Board’s central organization consists of the members of the Board and the following offices, divisions, and officials:

(a) Office of Board Members consists of the members of the Board, and assistants and special assistants to the Board assigned to public affairs and congressional liaison.

(b) Division of Monetary Affairs, headed by a director, is responsible for planning and coordinating programs, memoranda, and analyses and presenting decision-making options in areas of monetary and closely related financial policies. Responsibilities are carried out through various staff activities, including preparation of position papers and other documents on monetary policy issues such as open market, discount, and reserve requirement policy; coordination of analysis of regulatory and statistical issues closely related to monetary policy, including publication and interpretation of a variety of statistical series on money, reserves, and interest rates; and liaison with the trading desk at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York in connection with open market operations and market developments.

(c) Office of Staff Director for Management, who reports to members of the Board, is responsible for the planning and coordination of Board operations and the management of Board resources. The staff director exercises authority over Board divisions in the areas of strategic planning, budgeting and financial management, human resources management, information technology, facilities management, and continuity of operations and exercises line authority over the divisions of Management, Information Technology, and Support Services. The staff director also oversees the Board’s work with the Office of Management and Budget, the General Accounting Office, the Congressional Budget Office, and other federal agencies.

(d) Management Division, currently headed by the staff director for management, is responsible for supporting strategic planning and providing support to the Board in the areas of finance, human resources, and equal employment opportunity. The division is also responsible for maintaining the Board’s management policies and procedures.

(e) Office of the Secretary, headed by the secretary of the Board, coordinates and handles items requiring Board action, including actions under delegated authority; prepares agendas for Board meetings; implements actions taken at Board meetings; prepares, circulates, and indexes minutes of the Board; publishes the Federal Reserve Regulatory Service and related manuals; oversees the selection of Federal Reserve Bank and Branch directors; provides liaison at the staff level with the Federal Advisory Council, the Thrift Institutions Advisory Council, and other groups; makes arrangements for Board and System conferences at the Board; maintains custody of, and provides reference service in connection with, official records of the Board; handles correspondence and requests from the public for records; secures passports and visas for official travel of System personnel; and provides relief secretarial services.

(f) Legal Division, headed by the general counsel, advises the Board in carrying out its statutory and regulatory responsibilities by preparing Board decisions, regulations, rules, instructions, and legal interpretations of statutes and regulations administered by the Board; represents the Board in civil litigation and administrative proceedings; assists other divisions in fulfilling their responsibilities in such areas as contracting, fiscal-agency activities, Federal Reserve Bank matters, labor law, personnel, and supervisory enforcement matters; and prepares testimony or comments on proposed legislation.

(g) Division of Research and Statistics, headed by a director, provides the Board and the Federal Open Market Committee with the economic analysis and information needed for current operations, for the formulation of monetary and credit policies, and for the exercise of responsibilities regarding bank regulation; prepares, publishes, and interprets a variety of statistical series in the financial and nonfinancial fields; and conducts basic research related to the effects of monetary policy on economic activity and prices and to the effects of financial regulation on the structure and functioning of financial markets.

(h) Division of International Finance, headed by a director, provides the Board, the Federal Open Market Committee, and other System officials with assessments of current international economic and financial developments. Staff members analyze major economic and financial developments abroad, issues connected with exchange-market developments, international financial flows and their implications, the international monetary and financial systems and their evolution, and the balance-of-payments adjustment process. The division provides economic data and analyses for public release. It also works with the chairman and other Board members in their roles as members of various interagency bodies dealing with international economic policy issues.

(i) Division of Reserve Bank Operations and Payment Systems, headed by a director, advises and assists the Board in its oversight of Reserve Banks as providers of financial services to depository institutions, the Department of the Treasury, and other government agencies. This oversight includes assessment of the future direction of the Reserve Banks’ operations and services, the implementation of major initiatives, and ongoing operations. The division evaluates the efficiency and effectiveness of, and the adequacy of controls over, Reserve Bank financial and fiscal-agency services, and most Reserve Bank support functions, such as information technology, human resources, financial and cost accounting, operating and capital budgeting, facilities management, and internal audit. The division prescribes accounting principles, standards, and related requirements to be followed by the Reserve Banks. In addition, it coordinates the printing and distribution of Federal Reserve notes.

The division recommends to the Board policies and regulations to foster the integrity and efficiency of the U.S. payment system; works closely with other central banks, the private sector, international organizations, and other interested parties to improve the payment system more broadly; and conducts research on various payments issues. It also coordinates with the Department of the Treasury and other government agencies to facilitate the System’s role as fiscal agent to the United States.

(j) Division of Banking Supervision and Regulation, headed by a director, coordinates the System’s supervision of banks and bank holding companies and oversees and evaluates the Reserve Banks’ examination procedures; exercises general supervision of the banking, fiduciary, and information technology activities of state member banks, bank holding companies and their nonbank subsidiaries, and other financial entities supervised by the Board; administers laws, regulations, and supervisory policies relating to state member banks, bank holding companies, financial holding companies, nonbank subsidiaries, Edge and agreement corporations, foreign banks with domestic operations, and persons related to those institutions; supervises various foreign banking activities of member banks and foreign banking organizations; processes and presents to the Board applications filed under the Bank Holding Company Act of 1956, the Bank Merger Act, the Federal Reserve Act, and various other related statutes; coordinates supervisory activities with other regulators, such as the Securities and Exchange Commission and state insurance authorities, as required by the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act; and advises the Board about developments in banking and in bank supervisory policies and procedures.

(k) Division of Consumer and Community Affairs, headed by a director, administers consumer affairs legislation for which the Board has responsibility. Its functions include drafting regulations that implement the Truth in Lending Act, the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, the Community Reinvestment Act, the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act, the Fair Credit Billing Act, the Home Ownership and Equity Protection Act, the Consumer Leasing Act, the Electronic Fund Transfer Act, the Fair Credit Reporting Act, and the Federal Trade Commission Improvements Act. It oversees policy development and monitors the System’s examination and enforcement activities regarding compliance by state member banks with these laws and with the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, the Fair Housing Act, the Flood Disaster Protection Act, and the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act, as well as Regulation Q (Interest on Deposits). The division also administers the System’s consumer complaint program; reviews bank and bank holding company applications with respect to community reinvestment and consumer compliance matters; oversees the community affairs programs of the Reserve Banks, which provide information, education, and technical assistance regarding community development lending and other matters; conducts consumer research; and develops educational initiatives as an alternative or an adjunct to regulation.

(l) Division of Support Services, headed by a director, manages the operation of all support programs necessary for the Board to conduct its daily business. These programs include building and office services, facilities management, and logistical and administrative operations. The division is also responsible for the management and operation of the personnel security program for the System; environmental safety plans and programs under applicable environmental protection laws and the Occupational Safety and Health Act; and the development and implementation of strategic plans for major capital replacements, acquisitions, and renovations.

(m) Division of Information Technology, headed by a director, is responsible for the overall planning, acquisition, implementation, operation, and maintenance of the Board’s automation and telecommunications equipment, operating and data base systems software, and other hardware and software required at the Board; information security; mainframe linkage to distributed processing; and the Board’s Internet site. The division is also responsible for the design, development, and implementation of applications software; for the collection, processing, and maintenance of statistical and regulatory data provided by commercial banks, bank holding companies, other financial institutions, and Federal Reserve Banks; and for the provision of technical consulting services related to automation activities in other Board divisions and offices.

(n) Office of Inspector General is required by the Inspector General Act of 1978, as amended, to conduct and supervise independent and objective audits, investigations, and other reviews of Board programs and operations; promote economy, efficiency, and effectiveness within the Board; prevent and detect fraud, waste, and mismanagement in the Board’s programs and operations; review and make recommendations regarding possible improvements to existing and proposed legislation and regulations related to Board programs and operations; and keep the chairman and Congress fully and currently informed of problems.

In addition, the Federal Deposit Insurance Act, as amended, requires the Office of Inspector General to review the failure of any financial institution supervised by the Board that results in a material loss to deposit insurance funds and to produce, within six months of the loss, a report that includes possible suggestions for improvement in the Board’s banking supervision practices. Through an agreement with the inspectors general for the other federal financial institutions regulatory agencies, the Board’s Office of Inspector General will also investigate any material loss to deposit insurance funds caused by the failure of any financial institution supervised by one of these agencies if that institution is a subsidiary of a Board-regulated holding company.

(o) Other personnel. The Board does not employ administrative law judges or hearing officers as regular members of its staff. However, in accordance with applicable law and in individual cases, the Board obtains and uses administrative law judges and hearing officers, whose functions are separated from investigative and prosecuting functions of the staff.