The Federal Reserve System (also the Federal Reserve; informally The Fed) is the central banking system of the United States. Created in 1913 by the enactment of the Federal Reserve Act, it is a quasi-public (government entity with private components) banking system composed of (i) the presidentially appointed Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System in Washington, D.C.; (ii) the Federal Open Market Committee; (iii) 12 regional Federal Reserve Banks located in major cities throughout the nation acting as fiscal agents for the U.S. Treasury, each with its own nine-member Board of Directors; (iv) numerous private U.S. member banks, which subscribe to required amounts of non-transferable Stock in their regional Federal Reserve Banks; and (v) various advisory councils. As of July 2008, Ben Bernanke serves as the Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System.Official web-site: www.federalreserve.gov

To know more about it, look at what we have already written on this subject