Corporate Governance

The FHLB Des Moines has been in place for more than 70 years. Times filled with economic instability plagued America in the 1930’s. Spurred by the stock market crash of 1929, the United States government devised a plan to aid Americans while supplying a lifeline to the U.S. economy. On July 22, 1932, President Herbert Hoover signed the Federal Home Loan Bank Act, marking the beginning of safety and stability in the savings and loan industry. Within three months of the signing of the Act, the first board of directors met and started the FHLB.

Since our inception, the FHLB has been committed to excellence in corporate governance. We understand that promoting open, honest and direct communications about our financial and management reporting and governance is key to retaining the trust of our stakeholders and achieving our mission of promoting affordable housing in our five state district. We will maintain this commitment today and into the future.

FHLB Des Moines Board of Directors Approves Revisions to Code of Ethics

At the August 22, 2007 meeting of the Board of Directors of the Federal Home Loan Bank of Des Moines, the Board voted to approve certain revisions to the Bank’s Code of Ethics (Code). These revisions to the Code fall into two broad categories:

• substantive changes that involve a change in the scope of the Code; and

• technical changes that do not change the scope of the Code in any material respect.

Substantive Changes. The major substantive changes can be categorized as follows:

• changes that reflect new rules of the Bank’s regulator, the Federal Housing Finance Board (Finance Board), pertaining to financial interests of the Bank’s appointed directors;

• changes that reflect new rules of the Finance Board allowing the Bank’s Board to communicate the skills and experience needed on the Board as part of the director election process; and

• changes that require employees to report any gifts received from Bank customers or suppliers valued at or above $25.

Technical Changes. The technical changes made to the Code were designed to eliminate redundancies, reflect the recent restructuring of the Board’s committee structure, and to reflect name changes to certain policies referenced in the Code.

Please click here to view the revised Code.