12 U.S.C. § 281 Capital
No Federal reserve bank shall commence business with a subscribed capital less than $4,000,000.
USC Subchapter VI
USC Subchapter VI
in effect12 U.S.C. § 282 Subscription to capital stock by national banking association
Every national banking association within each Federal reserve district shall be required to subscribe to the capital stock of the Federal reserve bank for that district in a sum equal to six per centum of the paid-up capital stock and surplus of such bank, one-sixth of the subscription to be payable on call of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, one-sixth within three months and one-sixth within six months thereafter, and the remainder of the subscription, or any part thereof, shall be subject to call when deemed necessary by the Board, said payments to be in gold or gold certificates.
12 U.S.C. § 283 Public subscription to capital stock
No individual, copartnership, or corporation other than a member bank of its district shall be permitted to subscribe for or to hold at any time more than $25,000 par value of stock in any Federal reserve bank. Such stock shall be known as public stock and may be transferred on the books of the Federal reserve bank by the chairman of the board of directors of such bank.
12 U.S.C. § 285 Nonvoting stock
Stock not held by member banks shall not be entitled to voting power.
12 U.S.C. § 286 Transfers of stock; rules and regulations
The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System is empowered to adopt and promulgate rules and regulations governing the transfers of said stock.
12 U.S.C. § 287 Value of shares of stock; increase and decrease of stock; member banks as shareholders; surrender of shares
The capital stock of each Federal reserve bank shall be divided into shares of $100 each. The outstanding capital stock shall be increased from time to time as member banks increase their capital stock and surplus or as additional banks become members, and may be decreased as member banks reduce their capital stock or surplus or cease to be members. Shares of the capital stock of Federal reserve banks owned by member banks shall not be transferred or hypothecated. When a member bank increases its capital stock or surplus, it shall thereupon subscribe for an additional amount of capital stock of the Federal reserve bank of its district equal to 6 per centum of the said increase, one-half of said subscription to be paid in the manner hereinbefore provided for original subscription, and one-half subject to call of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. A bank applying for stock in a Federal reserve bank at any time after the organization thereof must subscribe for an amount of the capital stock of the Federal reserve bank equal to 6 per centum of the paid-up capital stock and surplus of said applicant bank, paying therefor its par value plus one-half of 1 per centum a month from the period of the last dividend. When a member bank reduces its capital stock or surplus it shall surrender a proportionate amount of its holdings in the capital stock of said Federal Reserve bank. Any member bank which holds capital stock of a Federal Reserve bank in excess of the amount required on the basis of 6 per centum of its paid-up capital stock and surplus shall surrender such excess stock. When a member bank voluntarily liquidates it shall surrender all of its holdings of the capital stock of said Federal Reserve bank and be released from its stock subscription not previously called. In any such case the shares surrendered shall be canceled and the member bank shall receive in payment therefor, under regulations to be prescribed by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, a sum equal to its cash-paid subscriptions on the shares surrendered and one-half of 1 per centum a month from the period of the last dividend not to exceed the book value thereof, less any liability of such member bank to the Federal Reserve bank.
12 U.S.C. § 288 Cancellation of stock held by member bank on insolvency or discontinuance of banking operations for sixty days; repayment of cash-paid subscriptions
If any member bank shall be declared insolvent and a receiver appointed therefor, the stock held by it in said Federal reserve bank shall be canceled, without impairment of its liability, and all cash-paid subscriptions on said stock, with one-half of 1 per centum per month from the period of last dividend, if earned, not to exceed the book value thereof, shall be first applied to all debts of the insolvent member bank to the Federal reserve bank, and the balance, if any, shall be paid to the receiver of the insolvent bank. If any national bank which has not gone into liquidation as provided in section 181 of this title, and for which a receiver has not already been appointed for other lawful cause, shall discontinue its banking operations for a period of sixty days the Comptroller of the Currency may, if he deems it advisable, appoint a receiver for such bank. The stock held by the said national bank in the Federal reserve bank of its district shall thereupon be canceled and said national bank shall receive in payment therefor, under regulations to be prescribed by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, a sum equal to its cash-paid subscriptions on the shares canceled and one-half of 1 per centum a month from the period of the last dividend, if earned, not to exceed the book value thereof, less any liability of such national bank to the Federal reserve bank.
12 U.S.C. § 289 Dividends and surplus funds of reserve banks; transfer for fiscal year 2000
(a) Dividends and surplus funds of reserve banks(1) Stockholder dividends(A) Dividend amountAfter all necessary expenses of a Federal reserve bank have been paid or provided for, the stockholders of the bank shall be entitled to receive an annual dividend on paid-in capital stock of—(i) in the case of a stockholder with total consolidated assets of more than $10,000,000,000, the smaller of—(I) the rate equal to the high yield of the 10-year Treasury note auctioned at the last auction held prior to the payment of such dividend; and (II) 6 percent; and (ii) in the case of a stockholder with total consolidated assets of $10,000,000,000 or less, 6 percent. (B) Dividend cumulativeThe entitlement to dividends under subparagraph (A) shall be cumulative. (C) Inflation adjustmentThe Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System shall annually adjust the dollar amounts of total consolidated assets specified under subparagraph (A) to reflect the change in the Gross Domestic Product Price Index, published by the Bureau of Economic Analysis. (2) Deposit of net earnings in surplus fundThat portion of net earnings of each Federal reserve bank which remains after dividend claims under paragraph (1)(A) have been fully met shall be deposited in the surplus fund of the bank. (3) Limitation on surplus funds(A) In generalThe aggregate amount of the surplus funds of the Federal reserve banks may not exceed $6,825,000,000. (B) Transfer to the general fundAny amounts of the surplus funds of the Federal reserve banks that exceed, or would exceed, the limitation under subparagraph (A) shall be transferred to the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System for transfer to the Secretary of the Treasury for deposit in the general fund of the Treasury.
(b) 11 See Codification note below. Transfer for fiscal year 2000(1) In generalThe Federal reserve banks shall transfer from the surplus funds of such banks to the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System for transfer to the Secretary of the Treasury for deposit in the general fund of the Treasury, a total amount of $3,752,000,000 in fiscal year 2000. (2) Allocated by FedOf the total amount required to be paid by the Federal reserve banks under paragraph (1) for fiscal year 2000, the Board shall determine the amount each such bank shall pay in such fiscal year. (3) Replenishment of surplus fund prohibitedDuring fiscal year 2000, no Federal reserve bank may replenish such bank’s surplus fund by the amount of any transfer by such bank under paragraph (1).
12 U.S.C. § 290 Use of earnings transferred to the Treasury
The net earnings derived by the United States from Federal reserve banks shall, in the discretion of the Secretary, be used to supplement the gold reserve held against outstanding United States notes, or shall be applied to the reduction of the outstanding bonded indebtedness of the United States under regulations to be prescribed by the Secretary of the Treasury. Should a Federal reserve bank be dissolved or go into liquidation, any surplus remaining, after the payment of all debts, dividend requirements as hereinbefore provided, and the par value of the stock, shall be paid to and become the property of the United States and shall be similarly applied.