United States Federal Reserve
The Federal Reserve, the central bank of the United States, was founded by Congress in 1913 to provide the nation with a safer, more flexible, and more stable monetary and financial system. Today the Federal Reserve's duties fall into four general areas: (1) conducting the nation's monetary policy, (2) supervising and regulating banking institutions and protecting the credit rights of consumers, (3) maintaining the stability of the financial system, and (4) providing certain financial services to the U.S. government, the public, financial institutions, and foreign official institutions.