1997 Annual Report

The Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco is one of 12 regional Reserve Banks which, together with the Board of Governors in Washington, D.C., comprise the nation's central bank.

As the nation's central bank, the Federal Reserve is responsible for making and carrying out our nation's monetary policy. It also is a bank regulatory agency, a provider of wholesale priced banking services, and the fiscal agent for the United States Treasury.

The Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco serves the Twelfth Federal Reserve District, which includes the nine western states--Alaska, Arizona, California, Hawaii, Idaho, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, and Washington--Guam, American Samoa, and the Northern Mariana Islands.

To serve this expansive region, the San Francisco Reserve Bank has five offices: the headquarters in San Francisco, and offices in Los Angeles, Portland, Salt Lake City, and Seattle. Each office provides financial services to the public and banking institutions in its locale.

This Report was produced by Karen Flamme. It was written by Elizabeth Laderman, Jennifer Martinez, Selma Meyerowitz, Barbara Bennett, and Karen Flamme. Design and illustrations were created by Bill Rosenthal. Color photography by Paul Schulz (somafoto@msn.com).