Emergency Lending Powers: Section 13(3)

The Fed deployed $2.3 trillion in emergency lending capacity within weeks of the COVID-19 shock. That speed—and the scale—reflected lessons learned from 2008, when slower action amplified financial panic. Understanding Section 13(3) authority reveals how the Fed can backstop markets in extremis, and why that backstop's existence matters even when it isn't used.

Legal Basis: What Section 13(3) Allows

Section 13(3) of the Federal Reserve Act grants the Fed authority to lend to non-bank entities during emergencies—a power that goes beyond its normal bank-focused operations.

The key language: The Fed may lend to "any participant in any program or facility with broad-based eligibility" in "unusual and exigent circumstances."

Translation: When financial markets are breaking down and banks alone can't fix the problem, the Fed can create lending facilities that serve broader participants—corporations, municipalities, money market funds, or other entities.

Core Requirements

Unusual and exigent circumstances: The Fed's Board of Governors must formally determine that emergency conditions exist. This is not a casual finding—it requires documented evidence that credit markets are frozen or failing.

Treasury Secretary approval: Post-Dodd-Frank reform requires the Treasury Secretary to approve any 13(3) facility. This adds political accountability and ensures executive branch involvement.

Broad-based eligibility: Facilities must be open to a class of borrowers, not a single firm. No more AIG-style individual company bailouts under current law.

Security for loans: The Fed must receive adequate collateral protecting taxpayers from loss.

Penalty pricing: Interest rates should be above normal market rates to discourage use except when genuinely needed.

Historical Examples: 2008 Crisis Facilities

The 2008 financial crisis triggered unprecedented use of Section 13(3) authority. The Fed created multiple facilities to address specific market breakdowns.

2008 Facility Timeline and Sizes

Total peak usage: Approximately $1.5 trillion across all 13(3) facilities.

The point is: each facility targeted a specific dysfunction. CPFF addressed the commercial paper market freeze. TALF restarted asset-backed securities issuance. PDCF kept broker-dealers operating when repo markets seized.

AIG: The Controversial Case

The AIG rescue—$182 billion at peak—remains the most controversial use of 13(3) authority. The Fed lent directly to a single insurance company to prevent systemic collapse.

Why it happened: AIG had sold credit default swaps to every major global bank. Its failure would have triggered cascading counterparty losses across the financial system.

Why it sparked reform: The AIG rescue looked like a bailout of Wall Street at taxpayer risk. Congress responded with Dodd-Frank restrictions preventing future single-firm rescues.

Post-Dodd-Frank Constraints

The 2010 Dodd-Frank Act significantly limited Section 13(3) authority to prevent perceived abuses:

Key Restrictions

Broad-based only: Facilities must have eligibility criteria that allow multiple borrowers—no individual company rescues.

Treasury approval required: The Treasury Secretary must consent to any new facility, creating political accountability.

No insolvent borrowers: Facilities cannot lend to entities that are already insolvent (though determining solvency in real-time is difficult).

Disclosure requirements: The Fed must publicly report 13(3) lending within seven days and provide detailed borrower information to Congress within one year.

Termination timelines: Facilities cannot operate indefinitely; they must have expiration dates and sunset provisions.

The durable lesson: Dodd-Frank preserves the Fed's crisis toolkit while adding constraints that make future AIG-style single-firm rescues legally impossible. The Fed retains flexibility for broad-based interventions but faces higher political and procedural hurdles.

2020 COVID Crisis Facilities

The COVID-19 shock in March 2020 triggered rapid deployment of 13(3) facilities—with Treasury approval secured within days.

2020 Facility Summary

Total authorized capacity: Approximately $2.3 trillion across all COVID facilities.

Actual usage: Far less than authorized—most facilities saw minimal take-up.

The Backstop Effect

The gap between authorized capacity and actual usage reveals a critical insight: the facilities worked primarily through confidence restoration rather than actual lending.

Why usage was low: Once markets knew the Fed would backstop commercial paper, corporate bonds, and municipal debt, private investors returned. The Fed's willingness to lend made private lending attractive again—prices normalized before the Fed had to deploy significant capital.

This is the "backstop effect" or "announcement effect." The Fed's commitment to act was sufficient to restore market function.

Market Impact: How 13(3) Affects Valuations

During Crisis Announcements

When the Fed announces emergency facilities, risk assets typically rally:

• Investment-grade corporate bonds tighten as default fears recede
• High-yield spreads compress (though less than IG, since Fed facilities often exclude junk)
• Equity markets recover on reduced systemic risk
• Money market funds stabilize as redemption pressure eases

Example: On March 23, 2020—the day the Fed announced corporate bond facilities—the S&P 500 bottomed and rallied 9.4% in a single session. Investment-grade corporate spreads peaked the same day and tightened 150 bps over the following month.

Ongoing Effects

Even after facilities close, the knowledge that the Fed can act shapes market behavior:

• Risk premia compression: Investors accept lower spreads knowing the Fed backstop exists
• Moral hazard concerns: Critics argue that implicit Fed support encourages excessive risk-taking
• Speed expectations: Markets now expect rapid Fed response to crises—delays may amplify panic

Detection Signals: You're Likely Misunderstanding 13(3) If...

• You expect the Fed to rescue individual companies (Dodd-Frank prohibits this)
• You wait for actual facility usage to assess impact (announcement effects matter more)
• You assume all facilities will be heavily used (low usage often signals success)
• You ignore Treasury approval requirements (political constraints are real)
• You treat Fed lending as "free money" (facilities charge penalty rates and require collateral)

Practical Monitoring Checklist

During Normal Times

• Track credit spreads (investment-grade and high-yield) for early stress signals
• Monitor commercial paper rates versus Treasury bills for funding market tension
• Watch money market fund flows for redemption pressure

During Stress Events

• Note Fed statements about "monitoring conditions" or "prepared to act"
• Watch for Treasury Secretary coordination signals
• Look for facility announcements—even without immediate usage, they signal Fed concern

After Facility Deployment

• Track actual usage versus authorized capacity
• Monitor how quickly spreads normalize
• Assess whether private market function returns

Your Next Step

During the next market stress event (elevated VIX, widening credit spreads, money market fund outflows), check the Federal Reserve's policy tools page for any new facility announcements. Compare the facility size to 2020 precedents. The speed and scale of any announcement—relative to the size of the affected market—reveals the Fed's assessment of crisis severity.

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Related: Role of the Discount Window | Standing Overnight Repo and Reverse Repo Facilities | Policy Mistakes and Historical Lessons