Issuance of Federal Reserve or national bank notes
Official text prohibited actmental stateif conditionpenaltylegal term
Whoever, being a Federal Reserve Agent, or an agent or employee of such Federal Reserve Agent, or of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, issues or puts in circulation any Federal Reserve notes, without complying with or in violation of the provisions of law regulating the issuance and circulation of such Federal Reserve notes; or
Whoever, being an officer acting under the provisions of chapter 2 of Title 12, countersigns or delivers to any national banking association, or to any other company or person, any circulating notes contemplated by that chapter except in strict accordance with its provisions—
Shall be or imprisoned not more than five years, or both.
History: (June 25, 1948, ch. 645, 62 Stat. 700 (PDF, 39 MB); Pub. L. 103–322, title XXXIII, §330016(1)(K), Sept. 13, 1994, 108 Stat. 2147 (PDF, 52 MB).)
Simplified explanation
It is a federal crime for a Federal Reserve Agent, their staff, or an employee of the Federal Reserve Board to issue or circulate Federal Reserve notes in violation of the laws governing how those notes are issued. It is also a crime for an officer under the national banking laws (chapter 2 of Title 12) to countersign or deliver national bank notes except in strict accordance with those laws.