Currently, bank-held federal-agency securities and debt amount to one-third of total bank capital a highly concentrated risk.

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The Fed will exchange the Treasury notes for other securities, including federal agency debt, federal agency residential mortgage-backed securities and nonagency AAA-rated private-label residential mortgage-backed securities.

FORBES: Fed To The Rescue!

In fact, the federal agency that regulates these products (the Securities and Exchange Commission) has been found to be compromised by conflicts of interest.

FORBES: Recall of Most of Nation's 401k Plans (September 10, 2008)

"To help support the economic recovery in a context of price stability, the Committee will keep constant the Federal Reserve's holdings of securities at their current level by reinvesting principal payments from agency debt and agency mortgage-backed securities in longer-term Treasury securities, " the FOMC says, adding it will continue to roll over the Federal Reserve's holdings of Treasury securities as they mature.

FORBES: U.S. Economy

Even before his past had been disclosed, two of the SEC's five commissioners had opposed his appointment on the grounds that the 78-year-old, a former director of both the Central Intelligence Agency and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, was not qualified for the job of regulating the securities industry.

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Their database is composed of Treasury issues, federal agency issues, mortgages, corporate bonds, municipal bonds, money market funds and asset-backed securities.

FORBES: Total Bond Index Funds are Not the Total Bond Market

The Federal Reserve also continues to reinvest the principal amounts of maturing issues of agency debt and mortgage-backed securities into new agency mortgage-backed securities.

FORBES: Big Bernanke Rally Puts Stocks Into Danger Mode

The SBA's Office of Advocacy monitors federal agencies like the Environmental Protection Agency, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the Department of Commerce and the Securities and Exchange Commission--in accordance with the Regulatory Flexibility Act of 1980--to make sure they aren't creating new rules that place a disproportionate burden on small businesses.

FORBES: Whither Bush's Small-Biz Budget?

In 2011, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (regulator of Freddie and Fannie) sued 17 financial firms for misrepresenting the quality of mortgage backed securities sold to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

FORBES: Libor Still Big Threat For Banks As Freddie Mac Sues Dozens Over Losses