But in the end, it's the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC)
and the current Chairman...Sir Alan [Greenspan]...that are
running the show from behind the curtain on a daily and hourly
basis. And nowhere in Ed Griffin's comments does he mention
that Alan has to listen to what the regional Reserve Banks are
saying...and he probably doesn't a lot of the time. I would
bet there are a lot of voices in England, Germany, China and
Japan...just to name a few countries...that would have a much
higher priority.
This is a good article, and it takes its data directly from
the Federal Reserve itself. What we learn is that 'ownership'
isn't really the issue with the Fed. The 'stockholders', which
are banks, don't really have much influence by virtue of their
stock. In fact, the appointed top officials of the Fed have
almost unlimited discretionary power to set Fed policy, with
no real oversight by stockholders or anyone else.
This puts to rest the mystery of Fed ownership, per se, and
replaces it with other questions: How does the President
decide who to appoint to the Fed? How does the Chairman of the
Fed, once appointed, arrive at his policy priorities? If
anyone knows of material relevant to these questions, I'd be
interested in looking at it.
In the meantime, it seems to me that no President (except
perhaps one like JFK) would be able to avoid taking his
appointment cues from the top New York banking elites, the
Rockefeller brothers, etc. If he went against them, he'd have
a civil war on his hands in American financial circles.
If this makes sense, then the Fed is clearly the tool of the
elite banking community, whose interests historically have not
been the same as the interests of America as a nation, or
of its people.
rkm
--------------------------------------------------------
http://www.financialsense.com/fsu/editorials/steer/2004/1014.html
WHO OWNS THE FEDERAL RESERVE?
by Ed Steer
Contributor: Le Metropole Cafe
October 14, 2004
In my last essay entitled 'T' Minus Ten hyperlinked here , I
had a list of what I was led to believe were the stockholders
in the Federal Reserve. Here is the list that was in this
essay...
Rothschild Banks of London and Berlin
Lazard Brothers Bank of Paris
Israel Moses Sieff Banks of Italy
Warburg Bank of Hamburg and Amsterdam
Lehman Brothers Bank of New York
Kuhn Loeb Bank of New York
Chase Manhattan Bank of New York
Goldman Sachs Bank of New York
I considered my source on this to be impeccable, and I had
seen this list several times on the Internet over the last few
years, and had a copy of it on my hard drive for the last six
months as well. Plus, if you do a Google search, the first
three or four items on this subject will show this set of
names.
However, a kind reader suggested that this list was far from
being correct. After numerous e-mail exchanges, and some
incredible research work on his part, a different set of names
has emerged. The source of these names is directly from the
Federal Reserve Bank of New York itself...so it's a little hard
to dispute them.
I'm indebted to Peter Rhalter who did all the heavy lifting
and spadework in what follows next....
In an e-mail to Mr. Rhalter from Agata Zhang...a "Business
Support Analyst" at the Federal Reserve...Zhang had this to say:
"The twelve regional Federal Reserve Banks, which were
established by Congress as the operating arms of the nation's
central banking system, are organized much like private
corporations - possibly leading to some confusion about
"ownership." For example, the Reserve Banks issue shares of
stock to member banks. However, owning Reserve Bank stock is
quite different from owning stock in a private company. The
Reserve Banks are not operated for profit, and ownership of a
certain amount of stock is, by law, a condition of membership
in the System. The stock may not be sold, traded, or pledged
as security for a loan; dividends are, by law, six percent per
year. Again, the holding of stock in a Federal Reserve Bank
does not carry with it the control and financial interest
conveyed to holders of common stock in for-profit
organizations."
"Below is the most current list of all member banks in the 2nd
district (both national and state)."
MEMBER BANKS IN THE SECOND FEDERAL RESERVE DISTRICT
[ long list - see source URL - rkm ]
Referring back to the e-mail to Peter Rhalter from Agata Zhang
at the Federal Reserve Bank, I would like to paraphrase his
reply a bit... "However, owning Reserve Bank stock is quite
different from owning stock in a private company...holding of
stock in a Federal Reserve Bank does not carry with it the
control and financial interest conveyed to holders of common
stock in for-profit organizations."
Zhang certainly has the gift of understatement when he/she
inserted these comments in his/her e-mail. But to give credit
where credit is due, Zhang at least mentioned that the Federal
Reserve's stock was not anywhere close to being what it's
function would be in a private company. By saying that, Zhang
unknowingly spilled the beans on what the Federal Reserve
really is.
It's a banking cartel.
There is no better expert on this 'banking cartel' than G.
Edward Griffin, the author of "The Creature From Jekyll
Island: A Second Look at the Federal Reserve" . Congressman
Ron Paul from the great state of Texas, and a member of the
House Banking Committee, had this to say about Griffin's book...
"A superb analysis deserving serious attention by all
Americans. Be prepared for one heck of a journey through time
and mind."
In the appendix of this book (now in its 16th printing)
Griffin had this to say, and he doesn't pull his punches:
(A.) Structure and Function of the Federal Reserve System
The three main components of the Fed are: (1) the national
Board of Governors, (2) the regional Reserve Banks, and (3)
the Federal Open Market Committee. Lesser components include:
(4) the commercial banks, which hold the stock, and (5) the
advisory councils.
The function of the national Board of Governors is to
determine the system's monetary policy. The Board consists of
seven members who are appointed by the President and confirmed
by the Senate. Their terms of office are fourteen years and
are staggered so that they do not coincide with the
presidential term of office. The purpose of this is to insure
that no single President can dominate Fed policy by stacking
the Board with his appointments. One Board member is appointed
as the Chairman for four years and another as Vice Chairman
for four years. The Chairman controls the staff and is the
single most powerful influence within the system.
Control is exercised by the Board and a handful of top staff
employees. The Federal Reserve Act mandated that the
President, when selecting Governors "shall have due regard to
a fair representation of the financial, agricultural,
industrial and commercial interest, and geographical divisions
of the country." This mandate is now almost completely
ignored, and the men come primarily from the fields of banking
and finance.
The function of the regional Reserve Banks is to hold cash
reserves of the system, supply currency to member banks, clear
checks, and act as fiscal agent for the government.
The twelve regional Reserve Banks are located in Atlanta,
Boston, Chicago, Cleveland, Dallas, Kansas City, Minneapolis,
New York, Philadelphia, Richmond, San Francisco, and St.
Louis. They are corporations with stock held by the commercial
banks, which are members of the system. Member banks elect the
directors of the regional Reserve Banks of which they are a
part. The larger banks hold more shares but only one vote in
the selection of the Directors.
Within each regional-bank system there are nine Directors. The
member banks elect three Class-A directors who represent the
banking industry and three Class-B directors who represent the
general public. The remaining three Class-C directors are
appointed by the national Board. The Chairman and Vice
Chairman of each regional Reserve Bank must be Class-C
directors. The selection of President and other officers is
subject to veto by the national Board of Governors. In this
way, the national Board is able to exercise control over the
regional branches of the system.
The function of the Federal Open Market Committee is to
implement the monetary policy set by (the) National Board,
although it exercises considerable autonomy in setting its own
policy. It manipulates the money supply and interest rates
primarily by purchasing or selling government
securities---although it also accomplishes that through the
purchase or sale of foreign currencies and securities of other
governments as well. Money is created and interest rates go
down when it purchase. Money is extinguished and interest
rates go up when it sells. Policy is formulated on a daily
basis. In fact, it is monitored by the minute and the
Committee often intervenes in the market to affect immediate
changes.
The Open Market Committee is composed of the national Board of
Governors plus five of the twelve regional Presidents who
serve on a rotating basis. The exception to this is the
President of the New York regional Bank who is always on the
Committee. Thus, once again, the System is firmly in control
of the national Board with the President of the New York
regional Bank being more powerful than the others.
Twenty-four bond dealers handle all sales of government
securities. Government agencies cannot exchange with each
other without going through dealers who earn commissions on
each transaction.
Decisions are made at secret meetings. A brief report is
release to the public six weeks later, but transcripts of the
deliberations are destroyed. That policy was begun in 1970
when the Freedom-of-Information Act was passed. Not even the
CIA enjoys such secrecy.
The function of the member banks is to conduct the nation's
banking business and to implement the System's monetary policy
in terms of putting money into (or drawing it out of) the
system at the point of contact with individual or corporate
borrowers.
This leads to the troublesome question of ownership. The
federal government does not own any stock in the System. In
that sense, the Fed is privately owned. That, however, is
misleading in that it implies a typical private-ownership
relationship in which the stockholders own and control.
Nothing could be further from the truth. In this case, the
stock carries no proprietary interest, cannot be sold or
pledged as collateral, and does not carry ordinary voting
rights. Each bank is entitled to but one vote regardless of
the amount of stock it holds. In reality, the stock is not
evidence of "ownership" but simply certificates showing how
much operating capital each bank has put into the System. It
is not a government agency and it is not a private corporation
in the normal sense of the word. It is subject to political
control yet, because of its tremendous power over politicians
and the elective process; it has managed to remain independent
of political oversight. Simply stated, it is a cartel, and its
organization structure is uniquely structured to serve that
end.
So...between Peter Rhalter, The Fed spokesman Agata Zhang, and
G. Edward Griffin's fine work...I think that we can give the
first list of Federal Reserve shareholders the decent burial
it deserves. Peter calls this list an "urban legend." But to
be truthful about it...it's patently false, as most of the
financial institutions named on this list don't even exist...as
both Peter and I discovered.
But in the end, it's the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC)
and the current Chairman...Sir Alan...that are running the show
from behind the curtain on a daily and hourly basis. And
nowhere in Ed Griffin's comments does he mention that Alan has
to listen to what the regional Reserve Banks are saying...and he
probably doesn't a lot of the time. I would bet there are a
lot of voices in England, Germany, China and Japan...just to
name a few countries...that would have a much higher priority.
The Federal Reserve System is not a democratic
organization...it's a dictatorship...a political destiny that they
(and others) have in mind for all of America. That's why The
Federal Reserve System was created in the first place, and
that's something that Ed Griffin explains in minute detail in
his book.
Read it!
Ed Steer, Director
Gold Anti-Trust Action Committee
Edmonton, Alberta
Canada
Email
© 2004 Ed Steer, Le Metropole Cafe. All rights reserved.
Editorial Archive
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