Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City

Headquarters buildings

The first bank building was the R.A. Long Building at 928 Grand which opened on November 16, 1914 until a new $4.3 million building could be built across the street at 925 Grand which formally opened in November 1921 in Downtown Kansas City. Shortly after it was established, the bank rented space to outside tenants. President Harry S. Truman had his office in Room 1107 of the building from when he left the Presidency in 1953 until the Truman Library was completed in 1957.

In 2002, the bank announced plans to build a new facility at 1 Memorial Drive 20 blocks south at 29th and Main on 15.6 acres (63,000 m²) on a hilltop south of the Liberty Memorial. The historic 925 Grand Building was the oldest building of any Federal Reserve Bank operating at that time. It was sold to Townsend LLC in March 2005 and the Reserve leased back the structure until the new building opened. It was designed by Henry N. Cobb of Pei Cobb Freed & Partners. The bank employs 925 people in Kansas City.

Economic policy symposium

Since 1978, the Kansas City Fed has held an annual economic policy symposium. From 1978–1981, it was held at different locations, and from 1982 it has been held in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. From 1978 to 1981 the symposia focused on agricultural economic issues. Since 1981 topics have been more broad and the symposia have gotten broader attention.

In 2003 and 2005, papers were presented at the symposium that were critical of the status quo, and predicted problems with the unseen risks of derivatives. These ideas in these papers were rejected at the time, but later were seen as having predicted the financial crisis of 2007-2010.

The Money Museum

The Fed operates a museum at its new site, called The Money Museum. It offers visitors opportunities to learn about the functions Federal Reserve system and America's financial systems. Features of the museum include interactives exhibits, a visit to the automated, multi-story cash vault where millions of dollars are secured — one of the largest in the region, viewing of the Harry S. Truman Coin Collection, and an opportunity to lift a real gold bar. The museum is open weekdays for self-guided tours and for one-hour guided tours, except holidays.

Branches

Leaders of the bank

Leaders of the Kansas City Federal Reserve are:

Chairman

Following are chairmen of the board of directors of the Kansas City Federal Reserve since 1992.

Current Board of Directors

The following people are on the board of directors as of 2016:

According to the Kansas City's website the directors blended as follows:

Class A - Three Class A directors represent commercial banks that are members of the Federal Reserve System. These directors are bankers who are nominated and elected by member banks within the Tenth Federal Reserve District, which includes western Missouri, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, Wyoming, Colorado and northern New Mexico. Under the Class A category, a director will be elected by a specific group of member banks classified as either 1, 2 or 3. This classification is based on the total amount of capital and surplus for each commercial bank, with Group 1 banks being the largest. Each group within the class elects one director.

Class B - Three Class B directors represent the public. Class B directors may not be an officer, director or employee of a bank or bank holding company. These directors are also elected by member banks under the same categories as Class A directors.

Class C - Three Class C directors also represent the public, but are appointed by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. This adds another layer to the blending of public and private control over the nation’s central bank. The Board of Governors also selects both the chairman and deputy chairman of each regional Federal Reserve Bank’s Board of Directors from among the Class C directors. These directors are highly insulated from banking relationships. They may not be an officer, director or employee of a bank or bank holding company. Additionally, these directors may not own stock in a bank or a bank holding company.

Popular culture

The heist in the 2008 movie Mad Money takes place at a fictitious version of the bank.