Unlike central banks in other countries, the Federal Reserve System (the Fed) is a group of organizations that form the central bank of the United States: the Board of Governors, the 12 Federal Reserve Banks, and the Federal Open Market Committee, which together host at least three dozen distinct web domains.
The team behind FRASER and FederalReserveHistory.org often gets questions about materials produced by the Fed and where to find them. This blog post gives a short overview of online information resources created by and for the Fed’s many business functions and links to resources on FRASER and across the web. A more comprehensive list is available in our Federal Reserve System Information : A Web Bibliography.
The Fed’s Structure and Functions
The simplified outline below of the Fed’s structure is intended to provide basic context. For clearer and more-precise explanations of the Fed’s structure and functions, we recommend The Fed Explained, Making Sense of the Federal Reserve, Federal Reserve FAQs, and About the Fed: Federal Reserve Act.
The Federal Reserve System is made up of the following three main parts:
- The Board of Governors (federalreserve.gov) is an independent agency of the federal government that reports to and is accountable to Congress.
- The 12 regional Federal Reserve Banks (newyorkfed.org, stlouisfed.org, etc.)—and their 24 Branches—are the operating arms of the Federal Reserve System. The Reserve Banks are not government agencies; they operate independently under the supervision of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors.
- The third part of the Federal Reserve System is the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), which has up to 19 participants—seven Federal Reserve Board governors and the regional Reserve Bank presidents (5 voting and 7 non-voting). The 12 voting members of the FOMC set U.S. monetary policy at meetings held at least 8 times each year. The FOMC’s public information is made available via the Board’s website.
Much of the Fed’s public information comes from both the Board of Governors and the Reserve Banks, including the following:
- Speeches, statements, and testimony from senior Fed officials
- Audited financial statements
- Business communications, such as annual reports, news releases, messages to commercial banks, and conferences
- Economic research and data for experts and for laypeople
- Materials related to the community development initiatives
Other materials are unique to certain Reserve Banks. These regional specialties, listed in the “Information by Institution” section of our web bibliography, often have to do with core industries of a Bank’s geographic area. (Of course, here in St. Louis, our specialty is providing economic data and information, such as FRASER and FRED.)
There is one important difference between materials published by the Board and those by the Reserve Banks. Publications from the Board, as a federal agency, are government documents and generally in the public domain. Materials published by the Reserve Banks are not government documents but are protected intellectual property under copyright, though specific materials, such as classroom lessons, may have special licenses for permitted use.
The Fed’s Functions
The Fed’s business and policy functions drive the creation of the System’s public information. Since 1936, the Board has published overviews of those functions, known as the “Purposes and Functions” series, for members of the public. The current edition is The Fed Explained, first published in 2021. Below, we highlight some key Fed functions and related information sources.
Monetary Policy and Markets
Monetary policy is the most visible of the Fed’s functions. For regular FOMC meetings, several documents are produced and made public on a schedule that has been developed to maximize transparency and minimize market disruption. These include the official statement, Beige Books, and more. The Fed also reports to Congress twice a year in the monetary report to Congress (often known as “Humphrey-Hawkins” reports).
Once the FOMC sets policy, it issues directives to the Open Market Trading Desk at the New York Fed to implement that policy through purchases and sales of securities in the open market. In addition, there are occasionally special “facilities” that will also publish data related to their operations, such as the “Main Street Lending Program” administered by the Boston Fed.
Banking Supervision and Financial System Stability
The Fed has always been tasked with making sure the financial system stays as stable and steady as possible.
Today, banking supervision and other financial system data are shared across the Board and other supervisory agencies because of federal law and related legislation. The actions and business of bank holding companies, depository institutions, other financial and nonfinancial entities, and consumers are regularly reported to the Board and the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC).
The oldest example of this information gathering and reporting is banks’ statements of condition and income, known as “call reports.” These are available on FRASER (1916-1959), from the Chicago Fed (1976-2010), and from the FFIEC (2001-present).
The Board also issues data through its statistical releases and letters to financial institutions that address significant policy and procedural matters related to the Federal Reserve System’s supervisory responsibilities.
Automatic switching center, Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, circa 1953 on FRASER
Payments and Financial Services
The U.S. payment system includes both bank-to-bank services and consumer payments, many of which are supported by the Fed: currency (Federal Reserve notes), checks deposited by banks and collected by Federal Reserve Banks, automated clearinghouse (ACH) transactions, and payments processed via Fedwire®.
Since 1915, the Fed has provided services to the U.S. government, acting as the government’s fiscal agent. In this role, the Reserve Banks perform a variety of services for the Treasury Department, other federal agencies, and government-sponsored enterprises.
Community Development
For decades, the Fed has been responsible for promoting consumer protection and community development to help ensure a fair and transparent financial services marketplace that benefits all Americans. Federal Reserve community development encompasses the research and policy work related to financial policy impacts on consumers and communities, including housing, employment, and small businesses.
Economic Data and Research
Finally, for the Fed to properly perform its duties, it needs information about what the economy is doing. The Fed has gathered and disseminated statistical data on the U.S. economy and banking industry since its establishment in 1914. Current datasets are also available on FRED, the Fed’s public data aggregator tool, and historical data are available on FRASER.
Economists at the Board and all 12 Banks research various topics related to the economy. These researchers share their findings with senior Fed leaders, at conferences, and in Fed publications, working papers, and scholarly journals.
Conclusion
The Federal Reserve System produces a huge amount of public information. Even though the information landscape is continually changing, we hope this post and the web bibliography can help you figure out a starting point to navigate. As always, please feel free to reach out to the FRASER team for assistance.
© 2025, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. The views expressed are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect official positions of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis or the Federal Reserve System.
