Section 13(3) of the Federal Reserve Act authorizes the Federal Reserve Board (FRB) in “unusual and exigent circumstances” to establish programs or facilities with “broad-based eligibility” that allow a Federal Reserve Bank to discount notes, drafts, and bills of exchange when such instruments are indorsed or otherwise secured to the satisfaction of the FRB and subject to any limitations that the FRB may prescribe. The FRB uses this authority to serve as the lender of last resort by providing shortterm liquidity to banks and other financial institutions and entities, as well as to borrowers and investors in key credit markets, such as the money market and commercial paper markets...

The following is a summary of the liquidity facilities that the FRB has recently made available, with the approval of the US Treasury Secretary, as is now required under the Dodd-Frank Act. In some cases, these facilities have been established in part in response to the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act..