Editing Federal Reserve Bank (section)

==History==
{{main|History of central banking in the United States}}
{{More citations needed|section|date=April 2014}}
[[File:US Federal Reserve Banks collage 1936.jpg|thumb|The twelve Reserve Bank buildings in 1936]]

The Federal Reserve Banks are the most recent institutions that the United States government has created to provide functions of a central bank. Prior institutions have included the [[First Bank of the United States|First]] (1791–1811) and [[Second Bank of the United States|Second]] (1818–1824) Banks of the United States, the [[Independent Treasury]] (1846–1920) and the [[National Bank Act|National Banking System]] (1863–1935). Several policy questions have arisen with these institutions, including the degree of influence by private interests, the balancing of regional economic concerns, the prevention of financial panics, and the type of reserves used to back currency.<ref name="wells">{{cite book|first=Donald R.|last=Wells|year=2004|title=The Federal Reserve System: A History|isbn=9780786418800|url=https://archive.org/details/federalreservesy00dona|url-access=registration}}</ref>

A financial crisis known as the [[Panic of 1907]] threatened several New York banks with failure, an outcome avoided through loans arranged by banker [[J. P. Morgan]]. Morgan succeeded in restoring confidence to the New York banking community, but the panic revealed weaknesses in the U.S. financial system, such that a private banker could dictate the terms of a bank's survival.<ref name="Carosso">Carroso, Vincent P. ''The Morgans: Private International Bankers, 1854-1913''</ref> In other parts of the country, clearing houses briefly issued their own money notes to carry on business. In response, Congress formed the [[National Monetary Commission]] to investigate options for providing currency and credit in future panics. Based on the Commission's findings and other proposals, Congress established the [[Federal Reserve System]] in which several Federal Reserve Banks would provide liquidity to banks in different regions of the country.<ref name="wells"/> The Federal Reserve Banks opened for business in November 1914.<ref>[http://www.newyorkfed.org/aboutthefed/history_article.html The Founding of the Fed]</ref>