As of the end of 2009, the Federal Reserve supervised 4,974 top-tier bank holding companies, 844 state member banks and 177 foreign banking organizations operating in the United States. State member banks range from very small community banks to banks with assets of more than $ billion.
Based on their experience, policymakers must have flexibility and discretion to adopt policies that they consider appropriate to mitigate risks through macroeconomic, prudential and capital account management policies without a sense of stigma attached to particular instruments.