This chapter reviews the legal requirements for a Federal Reserve loan to an investment bank. These requirements are stated in Section 13(3) of the Federal Reserve Act, which was enacted in the 1930s but seldom invoked before the 2008 crisis. Section 13(3) restricts loans to investment banks to “unusual and exigent circumstances,” but most economists believe the 2008 crisis fulfilled that condition. The controversial part of Section 13(3) is the requirement that a borrower post “satisfactory collateral” for a loan. The Fed’s General Counsel, Scott Alvarez, told the FCIC that “satisfactory collateral” means “you have to be pretty sure you will be repaid.”