To carry out this multi-faceted mission, the Congress established a highly decentralized Federal Reserve System with a complex governance structure. Leadership and direction are vested in the Board of Governors, but only about 1,700 staff (out of about 24,900) work for the Board in Washington. The regional Reserve Banks carry out the bulk of operations and have substantial autonomy.
As a result, planning and resource allocation at the Federal  BIS Review 72/1997  -2-  Reserve have historically been quite decentralized, and major changes have required painstaking consensus building across the Board/Bank structure. The regional structure of the Federal Reserve is one of its great strengths.