Federal Reserve Banks as Fiscal Agents and Depositories of the United States in a Changing Financial Environment
Donna A. DeCorleto and Theresa A. Trimble
Pursuant to the Federal Reserve Act, the Federal Reserve Banks perform a number of services for the United States and for other entities as fiscal agents and depositories. These roles have evolved since the relevant provisions of the Federal Reserve Act were implemented in 1915. An article in the April 2000 Federal Reserve Bulletin described these activities as being mainly the issuance and redemption of securities and the processing of payments to and from the federal government. Although the basic fiscal agent services have not changed since the article was published in 2000, considerable changes have occurred in the way those services are provided. For example, the Treasury and the Reserve Banks have implemented new web-based technology to improve the federal government's provision of services, much the same as financial services firms have used web-based technology to improve the ways that they do business and communicate with their customers. This article reviews the evolution of the Reserve Banks' fiscal agent role since early in the twentieth century, and describes fiscal agent and depository services today.
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Federal Reserve Personal Financial Education Initiatives
Lynn Fox and Joy Hoffman
Recognizing the importance of successful personal financial management to individuals and the broader economy, the Federal Reserve System has in the past two years intensified its efforts to provide and promote personal financial education. Initiatives have ranged from a public outreach effort highlighting the importance of financial education, to local and regional Reserve Bank programs targeted to specific audiences, to new educational seminars for employees. Staff members have studied the effectiveness of different types of education programs for different groups, and the System has worked to encourage the dissemination of research findings. The challenge for the future is to support financial education in a way that makes effective use of the System's resources and national visibility and complements the resources already available.
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