Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System

The Federal Reserve on Wednesday issued the first of an ongoing series of monthly reports providing considerable new information on its credit and liquidity programs.

The report, entitled Federal Reserve Credit and Liquidity Programs and the Balance Sheet, makes public a wide range of data concerning borrowing patterns and collateral.

"The Federal Reserve strongly believes in transparency as a fundamental principle of central banking in a democracy. This new report, together with other steps taken as a result of a comprehensive review of our disclosure practices led by Vice Chairman Kohn, significantly enhances the information Federal Reserve is releasing and should help the public and the Congress better judge how we are carrying out our responsibilities for stabilizing the financial system and the economy," said Board Chairman Ben S. Bernanke. "We will continue to look for opportunities to broaden the scope of information and analysis we provide."

For many of the Federal Reserve's credit and liquidity programs, the new information in the report includes the number of borrowers and borrowing amounts by type of institution, collateral by type and credit rating, and data on the concentration of borrowing. The report also includes information on liquidity swap usage by country, quarterly income for important classes of Federal Reserve assets, and asset distribution and other information on the limited liability companies created to avert the disorderly failures of Bear Stearns and American International Group.

In addition, the report summarizes and discusses recent developments across a number of programs. Each report will be available on the Federal Reserve Board's public website approximately two weeks after the end of the month at www.federalreserve.gov/monetarypolicy/bst.htm.

The new report is part of the Federal Reserve's continuing effort to enhance the transparency of its credit and liquidity programs and is consistent with the amendment to the recent budget resolution sponsored by Sen. Christopher Dodd, chairman of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs, and Sen. Richard Shelby, the ranking member.

Separate from the report, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York recently made available the investment management agreements related to its financial stability and liquidity activities. They are posted on its public website at www.newyorkfed.org/aboutthefed/vendor_information.html.