The Federal Reserve is naming the banks that drew emergency loans during the financial crisis, offering information on its oldest lending tool for the first time in the central bank's nearly 100-year history. The Fed was compelled to take the action after the Supreme Court rejected a bid by major banks to keep the information secret.
At the height of the 2008 financial crisis, the Fed loaned as much as $110 billion through the so-called ``discount window.' The documents offered details about which banks borrowed money from the lending program from August 2007 through March 2010. Hardly any loans are now being made because banks are in stronger financial shape and economic conditions have improved.