Federal Reserve Bank

The Consular Corps of Houston has maintained meaningful dialog with the Federal Reserve Bank for many years.  The Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas - Houston Branch is part of the Federal Reserve System, the central bank of the United States. It is one of 12 regional Reserve Banks that work together to ensure the Federal Reserve stays closely connected to communities all across the country.

Reserve Banks play a vital part in carrying out the Fed’s responsibilities to keep the U.S. economy strong—by ensuring stable prices, safe banking, secure payments and economic opportunity for all. 

As the U.S. central bank, the Federal Reserve works in the public interest. Its mission is to promote a strong financial system and a healthy economy. The Fed’s responsibilities focus on fostering the stability, integrity and efficiency of the United State's monetary, financial and payment systems.

In accordance with laws passed by Congress, the Federal Reserve performs five key functions:

Monetary policy:

Setting U.S. monetary policy  to promote maximum employment and stable prices.

Financial stability:

Monitoring financial system risks to help ensure the system supports a healthy economy for U.S. households, communities and businesses.

Bank supervision and regulation:

Promoting the safety and soundness of individual financial institutionsand monitoring their impact on the financial system as a whole.

Payment systems:

Fostering a safe, efficient and accessible payment and settlement system  for U.S. dollar transactions through services to the banking industry and the U.S. government.

Consumers and communities:

Promoting consumer protection and community development through bank supervision and research to understand the impacts of financial services policies and practices.To help support these responsibilities, the Federal Reserve Board and Federal Reserve Banks conduct extensive economic research, as well as research on the financial industry and related areas.