Why is are Federal reserves owned by a Private bank?

The Federal Reserve is a unique legal entity that can be described as an independent government agency with member bank participation. It is organized with a 100% government agency at the top (the Board of Governors), and branches beneath them that are organized like corporations with member banks as shareholders.(Ref: http://www.federalreserveeducation.org/f... , http://www.federalreserve.gov/generalinf... )

The Board of Governors are all appointed for 14-year terms by the president and confirmed by congress. It operates per it's charter and laws set by congress. it is overseen by congress. There is no structure or mechanism for private ownership at this level; it is a government agency. You can confirm this from a number of government sites that list it as a government agency (e.g. http://www.whitehouse.gov/government/ind... Board members are forbidden by law to have any economic interest in a private bank. (Ref: Title 12 chapter 3 of the U.S. Legal Code). The Board determines monetary policy and provides high level oversight of the branches.

The 12 branches, including the NY branch, can be considered highly regulated private corporations. Member banks are required to buy shares in their branch. Each bank has one vote. They can vote for 6 of their 9 board members, the other 3 are appointed by the Board of Governors. Though the branches are called non-profit, the member banks get a standard 6% dividend on their shares. The remaining 'profit' is turned over to the Treasury at the end of the year. All 'national banks' are members. You can review the list of national banks at http://www.helpwithmybank.gov/national_banks/bank_list.html .

For confirmation on this, check out how Hoovers classifies them:
http://www.hoovers.com/free/search/simple/xmillion/index.xhtml?query_string=Federal+Reserve&which=company&page=1&x=91&y=2#HooversCompanyNameMatchesH2

And those shares that the member banks own? Some say there are so many restrictions that it falls short of true ownership

From Edward Griffin, noted anti-fed intellect (http://www.bigeye.com/griffin.htm)

"It's a hybrid, part corporation and part government, part private, part government.
..
Every bank that's in the system is an owner of the Federal Reserve... But that's as far as it goes because those stock certificates do not carry with them any of the attributes of private ownership. For example, the holders of these certificates cannot sell them. If you can't sell something then you don't really own it, that's one of the tests of ownership, your ability to dispose of it. You cannot sell it. Furthermore the larger banks put up more money than the smaller banks, it's a ratio to their assets, so the larger banks have more stock certificates in the system than the small ones and yet regardless of the number that they hold, every bank has just one vote. There's another violation of the principle of private ownership. Furthermore that vote doesn't buy them anything. They can't vote for anything of substance; they cannot vote for their national management which is the most important thing, isn't it? The board of directors and chairman of the Federal Reserve System are appointed by the President, they're not elected by the banks that are part of the system, the President does that."

The Federal Reserve System is a GOVERNMENT banking system.
It is not a private bank.
You should know by now that republicans are liars.

The FED was created by Congress through the Federal Reserve Act of 1913.

http://www.federalreserve.gov/default.ht...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_Res...

Evil works in crafty ways to separate humanity. Religion is the number one thing on the planet that divided man. The truth about Christ consciousness is that it opens the true gate the Rich Elite Bankers don't want because the infinite love there breaks the entire system of debt and modern day slavery. Here is the FACT! If you truly want peace love and unity.. you would just do it! Stay near someone and make good memories.. You are not suppose to let your emotions follow the thoughts of what you think is Peace, Love, & Unity. Your heart is suppose to be directly placed on another person without thoughts between you both. Your thoughts are in between your heart and another person. Your subconscious belief logic system is targeted by Hitler's MKUltra Mind control the U.S Federal Reserved Bankers took from Hitler and mastered. That's the deception of EVIL! You have to be aware of your thoughts of you judging the world before you are aware of how you work first so that you see you are doing the evil acts of not loving another but only judging another person based on what you think is right. Behold the craftiness of the devil. No weapon formed against me shall prosper. (FACT)!!! Do your research for heavens sake! Christ consciousness is the highest extent of enlightenment of a person's inner true genius of efficiency and unity regardless of the name or label. This is the truth. We all have a consciousness living on this planet. We all are connected through life whether we like or not. There is no such thing as legal. There is only love or hate. There is no such thing as money as earth's resources grow unlimited and should never be bought. Human life is based on earth's unlimited resources. No price should be placed on what humans need to survive. Enlightenment of humanity is loving one another to break the entire system and uniting back with God.

Yeah, you should have asked some more questions.

The Federal Reserve Banks are not privately owned. Banks hold one "share" in the fed which entitles them to use the fed's discount window and depository scheme. They don't own it.