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A meeting of the executive committee of the Federal Open Mar
ket Committee was held in the offices of the Board of Governors of the
Federal Reserve System in Washington on Monday, December 14, 1942, at
10:10 a.m.
PRESENT:

Mr.
Mr.
Mr.
Mr.
Mr.

Eccles, Chairman
Sproul, Vice Chairman
Draper
Alfred H. Williams
McKee (Alternate for Mr. Szymczak)
Mr.
Mr.
Mr.
Mr.
Mr.
Mr.

Morrill, Secretary
Carpenter, Assistant Secretary
Goldenweiser, Economist
John H. Williams, Associate Economist
Wyatt, General Counsel
Rouse, Manager of the System Open Mar
ket Account

Mr. Clayton, Assistant to the Chairman of
the Board of Governors
Mr. Piser, Chief, Government Securities
Section, Division of Research and Sta
tistics of the Board of Governors
Mr. Berntson, Clerk in the Office of the
Secretary of the Board of Governors
Messrs. Ransom, Evans, Gilbert, Young, and
Leedy, members of the Federal Open Market
Committee
Upon notion duly made and seconded, and
by unanimous vote, the minutes of the meeting
of the executive committee of the Federal Open
Market Committee held on September 28, 1942,
were approved.
Since the last meeting of the executive committee it had been
necessary to purchase substantial amounts of securities for the System
account for the purpose of maintaining the pattern of rates on Govern
ment securities which had been agreed upon and to supply additional

12/14/42

-2

reserves to member banks.

For this purpose, the members of the Federal

Open Market Committee on October 9,

1942, increased to $2,500,000,000

the limitation on the authority of the executive committee to increase
or decrease the amount of securities in the System account,

and on De

cember 9, 1942, the members of the full Committee agreed to increase
the limitation to $3,000,000,000.

Under this authority, the members of

the executive committee on October 7, 1942, increased to $700,000,000
the limitation on the authority of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York
to increase or decrease the System account, and on October 9, 1942, the
members of the executive committee increased this amount to $2,200,000,000.
On November 30, 1942,

they increased this limit to $2,500,000,000 and re

moved the specific limitation of $300,000,000 on the authority of the
Bank to purchase special short-term certificates of indebtedness for
the temporary accommodation of the Treasury, with the understanding that

any such purchases would be governed by the general limitation on the
authority of the Bank.
Total holdings of securities in the System account on a com
mitment basis as of the close of business on December 12, 1942, amounted
to $5,530,614,000, exclusive of $70,504,000 of bills purchased by the
Federal Reserve Banks under repurchase options and held in their indi
vidual accounts.

Upon motion duly made and seconded, and
by unanimous vote, the actions taken by the
members of the executive committee
the authority of the New York Bank
to purchases of securities for the
count were approved, ratified, and

to increase
with respect
System ac
confirmed.

12/14/42
Upon motion duly made and seconded, and by
unanimous vote, the transactions in the System
account during the period from September 28 to
December 12, 1942, inclusive, as reported daily
by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York to mem
bers of the executive committee, were approved,
ratified, and confirmed.
Thereupon, the meeting recessed to reconvene following the
meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee.

Secretary.

Approved:
Chairman.