12 C.F.R. Subpart A—General Provisions
Title 12 - Banks and Banking
Source: 62 FR 54359, Oct. 20, 1997, unless otherwise noted.
(a) Authority. (1) This part is issued by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (the Board) pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act, 5 U.S.C. 552; Sections 9, 11, and 25A of the Federal Reserve Act, 12 U.S.C. 248(i) and (k), 321 et seq., (including 326), 611 et seq.; Section 22 of the Federal Home Loan Bank Act, 12 U.S.C 1442; the Federal Deposit Insurance Act, 12 U.S.C. 1817(a)(2)(A), 1817(a)(8), 1818(u) and (v), 1821(o); section 5 of the Bank Holding Company Act, 12 U.S.C. 1844; the Bank Secrecy Act, 12 U.S.C. 1951 et seq., and Chapter 53 of Title 31; the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act, 12 U.S.C. 2801 et seq.; the Community Reinvestment Act, 12 U.S.C. 2901 et seq.; the International Banking Act, 12 U.S.C. 3101 et seq.; the Right to Financial Privacy Act, 12 U.S.C. 3401 et seq.; the Securities and Exchange Commission Authorization Act, 15 U.S.C. 77uuu(b), 78q(c)(3); the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, 29 U.S.C. 1204; the Money Laundering Suppression Act, 31 U.S.C. 5301, the Fair Housing Act, 42 U.S.C. 3601; the Paperwork Reduction Act, 44 U.S.C. 3510; and any other applicable law that establishes a basis for the exercise of governmental authority by the Board. (2) This part establishes mechanisms for carrying out the Board's statutory responsibilities under statutes in paragraph (a)(1) of this section to the extent those responsibilities require the disclosure, production, or withholding of information. In this regard, the Board has determined that the Board, or its delegees, may disclose exempt information of the Board, in accordance with the procedures set forth in this part, whenever it is necessary or appropriate to do so in the exercise of any of the Board's supervisory or regulatory authorities, including but not limited to, authority granted to the Board in the Federal Reserve Act, 12 U.S.C. 221 et seq., the Bank Holding Company Act, 12 U.S.C. 1841 et seq., and the International Banking Act, 12 U.S.C. 3101 et seq. The Board has determined that all such disclosures, made in accordance with the rules and procedures specified in this part, are authorized by law. (3) The Board has also determined that it is authorized by law to disclose information to a law enforcement or other federal or state government agency that has the authority to request and receive such information in carrying out its own statutory responsibilities, or in response to a valid order of a court of competent jurisdiction or of a duly constituted administrative tribunal. (b) Purpose. This part sets forth the categories of information made available to the public, the procedures for obtaining documents and records, the procedures for limited release of exempt and confidential supervisory information, and the procedures for protecting confidential business information. (c) Scope. (1) This subpart A contains general provisions and definitions of terms used in this part. (2) Subpart B of this part implements the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) (5 U.S.C. 552). (3) Subpart C of this part sets forth: (i) The kinds of exempt information made available to supervised institutions, supervisory agencies, law enforcement agencies, and others in certain circumstances; (ii) The procedures for disclosure; and (iii) The procedures with respect to subpoenas, orders compelling production, and other process. [62 FR 54359, Oct. 20, 1997; 62 FR 62508, Nov. 24, 1997] For purposes of this part: (a) Board's official files means the Board's central records. (b) Commercial use request refers to a request from or on behalf of one who seeks information for a use or purpose that furthers the commercial, trade, or profit interests of the requester or the person on whose behalf the request is made. (c)(1) Confidential supervisory information means: (i) Exempt information consisting of reports of examination, inspection and visitation, confidential operating and condition reports, and any information derived from, related to, or contained in such reports; (ii) Information gathered by the Board in the course of any investigation, suspicious activity report, cease-and-desist orders, civil money penalty enforcement orders, suspension, removal or prohibition orders, or other orders or actions under the Financial Institutions Supervisory Act of 1966, Pub.L. 89-695, 80 Stat. 1028 (codified as amended in scattered sections of 12 U.S.C.), the Bank Holding Company Act of 1956, 12 U.S.C. 1841 et seq.,the Federal Reserve Act, 12 U.S.C. 221 et seq., the International Banking Act of 1978, Pub.L. 95–369, 92 Stat. 607 (codified as amended in scattered sections of 12 U.S.C.), and the International Lending Supervision Act of 1983, 12 U.S.C. 3901 et seq.; except— (A) Such final orders, amendments, or modifications of final orders, or other actions or documents that are specifically required to be published or made available to the public pursuant to 12 U.S.C. 1818(u), or other applicable law, including the record of litigated proceedings; and (B) The public section of Community Reinvestment Act examination reports, pursuant to 12 U.S.C. 2906(b); and (iii) Any documents prepared by, on behalf of, or for the use of the Board, a Federal Reserve Bank, a federal or state financial institutions supervisory agency, or a bank or bank holding company or other supervised financial institution. (2) Confidential supervisory information does not include documents prepared by a supervised financial institution for its own business purposes and that are in its possession. (d) Direct costs mean those expenditures that the Board actually incurs in searching for, reviewing, and duplicating documents in response to a request made under §261.12. (e) Duplication refers to the process of making a copy of a document in response to a request for disclosure of records or for inspection of original records that contain exempt material or that otherwise cannot be inspected directly. Among others, such copies may take the form of paper, microform, audiovisual materials, or machine-readable documentation (e.g., magnetic tape or disk). (f) Educational institution refers to a preschool, a public or private elementary or secondary school, or an institution of undergraduate higher education, graduate higher education, professional education, or an institution of vocational education, which operates a program of scholarly research. (g) Exempt information means information that is exempt from disclosure under §261.14. (h) Noncommercial scientific institution refers to an institution that is not operated on a “commercial” basis (as that term is used in this section) and that is operated solely for the purpose of conducting scientific research, the results of which are not intended to promote any particular product or industry. (i)(1) Records of the Board include: (i) In written form, or in nonwritten or machine-readable form; all information coming into the possession and under the control of the Board, any Board member, any Federal Reserve Bank, or any officer, employee, or agent of the Board or of any Federal Reserve Bank, in the performance of functions for or on behalf of the Board that constitute part of the Board's official files; or (ii) That are maintained for administrative reasons in the regular course of business in official files in any division or office of the Board or any Federal Reserve Bank in connection with the transaction of any official business. (2) Records of the Board does not include personal files of Board members and employees; tangible exhibits, formulas, designs, or other items of valuable intellectual property; extra copies of documents and library and museum materials kept solely for reference or exhibition purposes; unaltered publications otherwise available to the public in Board publications, libraries, or established distribution systems. (j) Report of examination means the report prepared by the Board, or other federal or state financial institution supervisory agency, concerning the examination of a financial institution, and includes reports of inspection and reports of examination of U.S. branches or agencies of foreign banks and representative offices of foreign organizations, and other institutions examined by the Federal Reserve System. (k) Report of inspection means the report prepared by the Board concerning its inspection of a bank holding company and its bank and nonbank subsidiaries. (l) Representative of the news media refers to any person actively gathering news for an entity that is organized and operated to publish or broadcast news to the public. (1) The term “news” means information that is about current events or that would be of current interest to the public. (2) Examples of news media entities include, but are not limited to, television or radio stations broadcasting to the public at large, and publishers of periodicals (but only in those instances when they can qualify as disseminators of “news”) who make their products available for purchase or subscription by the general public. (3) “Freelance” journalists may be regarded as working for a news organization if they can demonstrate a solid basis for expecting publication through that organization, even though they are not actually employed by it. (m)(1) Review refers to the process of examining documents, located in response to a request for access, to determine whether any portion of a document is exempt information. It includes doing all that is necessary to excise the documents and otherwise to prepare them for release. (2) Review does not include time spent resolving general legal or policy issues regarding the application of exemptions. (n)(1) Search means a reasonable search, by manual or automated means, of the Board's official files and any other files containing Board records as seem reasonably likely in the particular circumstances to contain information of the kind requested. For purposes of computing fees under §261.17, search time includes all time spent looking for material that is responsive to a request, including line-by-line identification of material within documents. Such activity is distinct from “review” of material to determine whether the material is exempt from disclosure. (2) Search does not mean or include research, creation of any document, or extensive modification of an existing program or system that would significantly interfere with the operation of the Board's automated information systems. (o) Supervised financial institution includes a bank, bank holding company (including subsidiaries), U.S. branch or agency of a foreign bank, or any other institution that is supervised by the Board. (a) Custodian of records. The Secretary of the Board (Secretary) is the official custodian of all Board records, including records that are in the possession or control of the Board, any Federal Reserve Bank, or any Board or Reserve Bank employee. (b) Certification of record. The Secretary may certify the authenticity of any Board record, or any copy of such record, for any purpose, and for or before any duly constituted federal or state court, tribunal, or agency. (c) Service of subpoenas or other process. Subpoenas or other judicial or administrative process, demanding access to any Board records or making any claim against the Board, shall be addressed to and served upon the Secretary of the Board at the Board's office at 20th and C Streets, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20551. Neither the Board nor the Secretary are agents for service of process on behalf of any employee in respect of purely private legal disputes, except as specifically provided by law. (d) Alternative authority. Any action or determination required or permitted by this part to be done by the Secretary, the General Counsel, or the Director of any Division may be done by any employee who has been duly designated for this purpose by the Secretary, General Counsel, or the appropriate Director.
Title 12: Banks and Banking
PART 261—RULES REGARDING AVAILABILITY OF INFORMATION
Subpart A—General Provisions
§ 261.1 Authority, purpose, and scope.
§ 261.2 Definitions.
§ 261.3 Custodian of records; certification; service; alternative authority.
