Title 12, Banks and BankingRelease 119-102
§502 Liability of Shareholders of Federal Reserve Banks on Contracts, Etc.
Title 12 › CHAPTER 3 — FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM › SUBCHAPTER XVI — CIVIL LIABILITY OF FEDERAL RESERVE AND MEMBER BANKS, SHAREHOLDERS, AND OFFICERS › § 502
Summary
Owners (shareholders) of a Federal Reserve Bank must each be personally responsible, equally and in proportion to their share, for the bank’s contracts, debts, and other obligations. Each owner’s liability is limited to the amount they agreed to buy the stock for at its par (face) value, whether they have paid that amount in full or only partly.
Full Legal Text
Title 12, §502
Banks and Banking, Source: USLM XML via OLRC
The shareholders of every Federal reserve bank shall be held individually responsible, equally and ratably, and not one for another, for all contracts, debts, and engagements of such bank to the extent of the amount of their subscriptions to such stock at the par value thereof in addition to the amount subscribed, whether such subscriptions have been paid up in whole or in part under the provisions of this chapter.
Legislative History
Notes & Related Subsidiaries
Editorial Notes
References in Text
This chapter, referred to in text, was in the original “this Act”, meaning act Dec. 23, 1913, ch. 6, 38 Stat. 251, known as the Federal Reserve Act. For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see
References in Text
note set out under section 226 of this title and Tables. Codification Section is comprised of the fourth par. of section 2 of act Dec. 23, 1913. For classification of other pars. of section 2 of this Act, see Codification note set out under section 222 of this title.
Reference
Citations & Metadata
Citation
12 U.S.C. § 502
Title 12, Banks and Banking
Last Updated
Aug 21, 2026
Release point: 119-102