what is a board of governors 
a board of governors is a group of people appointed to oversee the management of an institution the u s postal service the bbc the world bank numerous colleges and universities as well as professional organizations such as the cfa institute and regulatory bodies such as the financial industry regulatory authority finra all have boards of governors in the financial world the best known board of governors is that of the federal reserve the central bank of the united states understanding a board of governorsthe u s central bank s board of governors is composed of seven individuals who are appointed by the president and confirmed by the senate members of the board of governors serve 14 year terms running on a staggered basis to ensure continuity 2legally appointments to the board are to consist of a fair representation of the financial agricultural industrial and commercial interests and geographical divisions of the country 2 in practice appointments have predominantly been of academics and former banking professionals 1only one governor can represent a federal reserve district duties of the federal reserve board of governorsthe board of governors has seven of the 12 seats on the federal open market committee fomc the body responsible for setting u s monetary policy the current federal reserve board has six members with one vacancy as of may 2022 1the presidents of five of the 12 regional reserve banks make up the remaining members of the fomc the chair of the fed s board of governors is responsible for chairing the fomc 3the federal reserve board the board has authority over changes in reserve requirements and it must approve any change in the discount rate initiated by a federal reserve bank 43members of the board frequently testify before congressional committees on the economy monetary policy banking supervision and regulation consumer credit protection and financial markets they are also responsible for supervising the work of the regional fed banks including approving budgets and appointing directors the current federal reserve chair is jerome powell recent notable chairs of the fed s board of governors include there have been a total of 16 chairs of the board of governors of the federal reserve of the united states 5board of governors vs board of directorsnon profit organizations government divisions and higher academic institutions typically have a board of governors as their governing body rather than a board of directors corporations as required by law have a board of directors appointed to oversee financial decisions and business operations 