Overview
The Federal Home Loan Bank of New York is a federally-chartered privately-owned wholesale bank that provides a reliable source of liquidity to financial institutions in New York, New Jersey, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The bank is one of 12 banks in the congressionally chartered Federal Home Loan Bank System which was created in 1932 to advance housing and community growth. It offers high-value finance, correspondent and cash-management services to assist community lenders engaged in home-mortgage and neighborhood lending to better serve their local areas and meet Community Reinvestment Act responsibilities. While supervised by the Federal Housing Finance Agency, the Federal Home Loan Banks are operated by their member stockholders and receive no taxpayer funding.
In 2008, the U.S. Treasury Department established an emergency credit line for the Federal Home Loan Banks. The banks have come under criticism amid the credit crunch as souring mortgage investments took a toll on their capital reserves, raising the possibility that they may have to curtail lending to their member banks.