The U.S. Federal Reserve is a mix of public and private interests and functions as the bank of the U.S. Treasury.

A pyramidal system composed of private banks and federal reserve banks, it is controlled, at the top, by a Board of Governors appointed by the President to:

• create U.S. monetary policy
• regulate the flow of money
• raise and lower interest rates
• supervise and regulate U.S. financial instititutions
• provide financial services to depository institutions
• act as fiscal agent - or bank - to the federal government

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency is charged with the responsibility for regulating all banks and was set up to:

• make sure banks don’t fail
• insure the integrity of how the banks operate internally
• insure banks deal fairly and honestly with their customers

This office has enormous power over lenders. It could require them to give full disclosure of how much revolving credit actually costs the consumer. It could prevent banks and lending institutions from re-pricing consumers on short notice.

According to Frontline's exposé, it has undercut all efforts by state governments to bring charges against lenders for unfair or fraudulent practices, and all fifty states are currently "at war" against this office for its lack of oversight and action.