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A message from Management

 

The Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis ended 2006 and entered 2007 with a full charge of momentum. However one chooses to define it, 2006 was a successful year for us—whether it was our economists expanding their published research and number of presentations, the continued management of the Fed’s Treasury services by our Treasury Relations and Support Office (TRSO), or our check operations
exceeding revenue projections at lower-than-expected costs.

The St. Louis Fed in 2006 met all 25 key objectives in its strategic plan, all three Bank-wide financial objectives and one of two organizational climate objectives. We also met 34 of 45 key operating measures, many of which continue to have stretch targets. The Bank’s total expenses came in under budget by 4.2 percent or $9.2 million. Our employees actively contributed to more than 100 System and District initiatives.

What follows are highlights of the District’s 2006 accomplishments:

Research/Monetary Policy

  • Continued strong economic research program and high publication and citation rate. The number of peer-reviewed journal articles published or accepted for publication was 62, up from 58 in 2005.

  • Provided excellent support for the Bank’s public programs through research on topics of interest to community leaders and through research presentations.

  • Enhanced online economic information and implemented an online bank structural data information system (CASSIDI®). Overall, Research’s web pages were visited more than 60 million times during 2006, up more than 40 percent from the preceding year.

Supervision, Credit and Center for Online Learning

  • Completed all mandated bank examinations in a timely manner and received excellent Board of Governors operations examination.

  • Raised the Bank’s visibility to bankers and increased the supervisory portfolio of state member banks from 85 to 94 banks.

  • Continued to increase the volume of work for the Center for Online Learning, a recognized Fed System leader in the area of online training.

U.S. Treasury Support

  • Received high marks from the U.S. Treasury for services and support provided on numerous Treasury revenue collection and cash management programs. The Treasury rated the Bank a 4.8 on a 1 to 5 satisfaction scale.

  • Met 19 of 22 local Treasury objectives and stayed within the budget caps for 14 of 18 business lines. Budget overruns were all approved ahead of time by the Treasury. Local Treasury services were rated a 4.5 by the Treasury.

  • Assisted the Federal Reserve System in completing 82 of 88 key Treasury business objectives, while underrunning the budget by $7.6 million, or 2.3 percent.

Financial Services

  • Met seven of eight Retail Payments Office check performance targets, a large improvement from 2005, and significantly improved the Memphis check operation.

  • Met seven of 10 cash performance targets and provided significant System leadership in cash services.

Administration

  • Made substantial progress on facilities projects, including beginning construction of a new tower and renovations of cafeteria and conference facilities.

  • Completed numerous human resources initiatives related to key areas of focus for the Bank—leadership and staff development, diversity, and compensation.

  • Provided significant System leadership in the financial management, information technology (problem management), support services (physical security) and human resources (employee benefits, HR automation) functions.

Legal, Public and Community Affairs

  • Continued to expand the District’s outreach through additional economic education and community development programs, as well as local boards of directors engagement.

  • Enhanced the Bank’s monetary policy input programs in support of the Bank’s president. Industry Councils, a new vehicle for gathering and sharing economic data with key business and community leaders, were established in all four zones.

  • Continued to provide editorial and graphic design services to other Reserve banks for publications and web sites.

Organizational Initiatives

  • Customer Service: The District continued its efforts to sustain a service-oriented culture. As a result, all divisions exceeded customer service targets.

  • Innovation: To support the Bank’s organizational value of innovation, the Bank implemented an online idea repository yielding 64 new ideas; seven were implemented, and 37 are in process.

  • Staff Development: Human Resources completed several initiatives to further leadership and staff development. In addition, a new behavioral competency model was introduced to employees in 2006.

  • Employee Communications: Several communications channels were reassessed or refined in 2006, and new electronic channels of communication were further explored.

  • Enterprise Risk Management (ERM): The Bank enhanced the SOX (now AS2) and ERM programs in 2006 by working more closely with business areas to streamline data collection and assessment. Most business areas now discuss risks during regular management meetings throughout the year, and the type of risk information collected has been streamlined, resulting in more timely risk profile updates.


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