- § 2281. Congressional findings and declaration of purpose
- § 2282. Definitions
- § 2283. Creation of Federal Financing Bank
- § 2284. Board of Directors
- § 2285. Functions
- § 2285a. Acquisition of obligations involving loan guarantees for New York City
- § 2286. Approval of financing plans by Secretary of the Treasury
- § 2287. Initial capital
- § 2288. Bank obligations
- § 2289. General powers
- § 2290. Exemptions
- § 2291. Preparation of obligations
- § 2292. Annual report to the President and Congress
- § 2293. Budget and audit provisions of Government corporation control law applicable
- § 2294. Payments on behalf of public bodies
- § 2294a. Contracts for periodic payments to offset costs of purchase of obligations of local public housing agencies
- § 2295. Authority or responsibility under other provisions of law not to be affected or impaired
- § 2296. Increase not authorized in amounts of obligations issued, sold, or guaranteed by Federal agencies
The Congress finds that demands for funds through Federal and federally assisted borrowing programs are increasing faster than the total supply of credit and that such borrowings are not adequately coordinated with overall Federal fiscal and debt management policies. The purpose of this chapter is to assure coordination of these programs with the overall economic and fiscal policies of the Government, to reduce the cost of Federal and federally assisted borrowings from the public, and to assure that such borrowings are financed in a manner least disruptive of private financial markets and institutions.
There is hereby created a body corporate to be known as the Federal Financing Bank, which shall have succession until dissolved by an Act of Congress. The Bank shall be subject to the general supervision and direction of the Secretary of the Treasury. The Bank shall be an instrumentality of the United States Government and shall maintain such offices as may be necessary or appropriate in the conduct of its business.
The Bank is authorized to make commitments to purchase and sell, and to purchase and sell on terms and conditions determined by the Bank, any obligation which is issued, sold, or guaranteed by a Federal agency. Any Federal agency which is authorized to issue, sell, or guarantee any obligation is authorized to issue or sell such obligations directly to the Bank.
Any purchase by the Bank shall be upon such terms and conditions as to yield a return at a rate not less than a rate determined by the Secretary of the Treasury taking into consideration (1) the current average yield on outstanding marketable obligations of the United States of comparable maturity, or (2) whenever the Bank’s own obligations outstanding are sufficient, the current average yield on outstanding obligations of the Bank of comparable maturity.
The Bank is authorized to charge fees for its commitments and other services adequate to cover all expenses and to provide for the accumulation of reasonable contingency reserves.
Nothing in any provision of law shall be construed to authorize the Federal Financing Bank to acquire any obligation the payment of interest or principal of which has at any time been guaranteed in whole or in part under title I of the New York City Loan Guarantee Act of 1978.
Upon receipt of a request from a Federal agency for his approval under subsection (a) of this section, the Secretary of the Treasury shall act promptly either to grant his approval or to advise the agency of the reasons for withholding his approval. In no case shall the Secretary of the Treasury withhold such approval for a period longer than sixty days unless, prior to the end of such period, he submits to the Congress a detailed explanation of his reasons for so doing. In no case shall the Secretary withhold such approval for a period longer than one hundred and twenty days. To the maximum extent practicable, withholdings of approval shall be made in a manner which is not disproportionately detrimental to the functioning of any particular type of Federal program. Expedited treatment shall be accorded in any case in which the Federal agency advises the Secretary of the Treasury that unusual circumstances require such treatment.
Federal agencies subject to this section shall submit financing plans to the Secretary of the Treasury at such times and in such forms as he shall prescribe.
The Secretary of the Treasury is authorized to advance the funds necessary to provide initial capital to the Bank. Each such advance shall be upon such terms and conditions as to yield a return at a rate not less than a rate determined by the Secretary of the Treasury, taking into consideration the current average yield on outstanding marketable obligations of the United States of comparable maturity. Interest payments on such advances may be deferred, at the discretion of the Secretary, but any such deferred payments shall themselves bear interest at the rate specified in this section. There is authorized to be appropriated not to exceed $100,000,000, which shall be available for the purposes of this section without fiscal year limitation.
The Bank is authorized, with the approval of the Secretary of the Treasury, to issue publicly and have outstanding at any one time not in excess of $15,000,000,000, or such additional amounts as may be authorized in appropriations Acts, of obligations having such maturities and bearing such rate or rates of interest as may be determined by the Bank. Such obligations may be redeemable at the option of the Bank before maturity in such manner as may be stipulated therein. So far as is feasible, the debt structure of the Bank shall be commensurate with its asset structure.
The Bank is also authorized to issue its obligations to the Secretary of the Treasury and the Secretary of the Treasury may in his discretion purchase or agree to purchase any such obligations, and for such purpose the Secretary of the Treasury is authorized to use as a public debt transaction the proceeds of the sale of any securities hereafter issued under chapter 31 of title 31, and the purposes for which securities may be issued under chapter 31 of title 31 are extended to include such purchases. Each purchase of obligations by the Secretary of the Treasury under this subsection shall be upon such terms and conditions as to yield a return at a rate not less than a rate determined by the Secretary of the Treasury, taking into consideration the current average yield on outstanding marketable obligations of the United States of comparable maturity. The Secretary of the Treasury may sell, upon such terms and conditions and at such price or prices as he shall determine, any of the obligations acquired by him under this subsection. All purchases and sales by the Secretary of the Treasury of such obligations under this subsection shall be treated as public debt transactions of the United States.
The Bank may require the Secretary of the Treasury to purchase obligations of the Bank issued pursuant to subsection (b) in such amounts as will not cause the holding by the Secretary of the Treasury resulting from such required purchases to exceed $5,000,000,000 at any one time. This subsection shall not be construed as limiting the authority of the Secretary to purchase obligations of the Bank in excess of such amount.
Obligations of the Bank issued pursuant to this section shall be lawful investments, and may be accepted as security for all fiduciary, trust, and public funds, the investment or deposit of which shall be under the authority or control of the United States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, or any territory or possession of the United States, or any agency or instrumentality of any of the foregoing, or any officer or officers thereof.
The Bank, its property, its franchise, capital, reserves, surplus, security holdings, and other funds, and its income shall be exempt from all taxation now or hereafter imposed by the United States or by any State or local taxing authority; except that (1) any real property and any tangible personal property of the Bank shall be subject to Federal, State, and local taxation to the same extent according to its value as other such property is taxed, and (2) any obligations issued by the Bank shall be subject to Federal taxation to the same extent as the obligations of private corporations are taxed.
All obligations issued by the Bank pursuant to this chapter shall be deemed to be exempted securities within the meaning of sections 77c(a)(2), 77ddd(a)(4), and 78c(a)(12) of title 15.
Nothing herein shall affect the budget status of the Federal agencies selling obligations to the Bank under section 2285(a) of this title, or the method of budget accounting for their transactions. The receipts and disbursements of the Bank in the discharge of its functions shall not be included in the totals of the budget of the United States Government and shall be exempt from any general limitation imposed by statute on expenditures and net lending (budget outlays) of the United States.
In order to furnish obligations for delivery by the Bank, the Secretary of the Treasury is authorized to prepare such obligations in such form as the Bank may approve, such obligations when prepared to be held in the Treasury subject to delivery upon order by the Bank. The engraved plates, dies, bed pieces, and other material executed in connection therewith, shall remain in the custody of the Secretary of the Treasury. The Bank shall reimburse the Secretary of the Treasury for any expenditures made in preparation, custody, and delivery of such obligations.
The Bank shall, as soon as practicable after the end of each fiscal year, transmit to the President and the Congress an annual report of its operations and activities.
The budget and audit provisions of chapter 91 of title 31 shall be applicable to the Federal Financing Bank in the same manner as they are applied to the wholly owned Government corporations named in section 9101(3) of title 31.
In addition to any authority provided before October 1, 1981, the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development may, on and after October 1, 1981, enter into contracts for periodic payments to the Federal Financing Bank to offset the costs to the Bank of purchasing obligations (as described in the first sentence of section 2294(b) of this title) issued by local public housing agencies for purposes of financing public housing projects authorized by section 1437c(c) of title 42. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, such contracts may be entered into only to the extent approved in appropriation Acts, and the aggregate amount which may be obligated over the duration of such contracts may not exceed $400,000,000. There are hereby authorized to be appropriated any amounts necessary to provide for such payments. The authority to enter into contracts under this subsection shall be in lieu of any authority (except for authority provided specifically to the Secretary before October 1, 1981) of the Secretary to enter into contracts for such purposes under section 2294(b) of this title.
Nothing in this chapter shall be construed as impairing any authority or responsibility of the President or the Secretary of the Treasury under any other provision of law, nor shall anything in this chapter affect in any manner any provision of law concerning the right of any Federal agency to sell obligations to the Secretary of the Treasury or the authority or responsibility of the Secretary of the Treasury to purchase such obligations.
Nothing in this chapter shall be construed as authorizing an increase in the amounts of obligations issued, sold, or guaranteed by any Federal agency which issues, sells, or guarantees obligations purchased by the Bank.