The Federal Reserve System is run by a Board of Governors. The Governors are appointed by the President. They must be confirmed by the Senate. The Board of Gove

The Federal Reserve System is run by a Board of Governors. The Governors are appointed by the President. They must be confirmed by the Senate. The Board of Governors is accountable to the House of Representatives and must give them an annual report of the Fed's operations. If the Federal Reserve System were private, then the people who govern it would ultimately be accountable to private shareholders and not to Congress who represent the People. However, the individual member banks are private, which is why it is a grey area. Much of the confusion comes from the fact that "the Fed" can be used to mean the Federal Reserve System as a whole or the Board of Governors ("the Fed decided to raise interest rates") or the member banks depending on the context.