12 C.F.R. Subpart C—Confidential Information Made Available to Supervised Institutions, Financial Institution Supervisory Agencies, Law Enforcement Agencies, and Others in Certain Circumstances
Title 12 - Banks and Banking
(a) Disclosure of confidential supervisory information to supervised financial institutions. Confidential supervisory information concerning a supervised bank, bank holding company (including subsidiaries), U.S. branch or agency of a foreign bank, or other institution examined by the Federal Reserve System (“supervised financial institution”) may be made available by the Board or the appropriate Federal Reserve Bank to the supervised financial institution. (b) Disclosure of confidential supervisory information by supervised financial institution—(1) Parent bank holding company, directors, officers, and employees. Any supervised financial institution lawfully in possession of confidential supervisory information of the Board pursuant to this section may disclose such information, or portions thereof, to its directors, officers, and employees, and to its parent bank holding company and its directors, officers, and employees. (2) Certified public accountants and legal counsel. Any supervised financial institution lawfully in possession of confidential supervisory information of the Board pursuant to this section may disclose such information, or portions thereof, to any certified public accountant or legal counsel employed by the supervised financial institution, subject to the following conditions: (i) Certified public accountants or legal counsel shall review the confidential supervisory information only on the premises of the supervised financial institution, and shall not make or retain any copies of such information; (ii) The certified public accountants or legal counsel shall not disclose the confidential supervisory information for any purpose without the prior written approval of the Board's General Counsel except as necessary to provide advice to the supervised financial institution, its parent bank holding company, or the officers, directors, and employees of such supervised financial institution and parent bank holding company. (c) Disclosure upon request to Federal financial institution supervisory agencies. Upon requests, the Director of the Division of Banking Supervision and Regulation or the appropriate Federal Reserve Bank, may make available to the Comptroller of the Currency, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, and the Federal Home Loan Bank Board and their regional offices and representatives, confidential supervisory information and other appropriate information (such as confidential operating and condition reports) relating to a bank, bank holding company (including subsidiaries), U.S. branch or agency of a foreign bank, or other supervised financial institution. (d) Disclosure upon request to state financial institution supervisory agencies. Upon requests, the Director of the Division of Banking Supervision and Regulation or the appropriate Federal Reserve Bank may make available confidential supervisory information and other appropriate information (such as confidential operating and condition reports) relating to a bank, bank holding company (including subsidiaries), U.S. branch or agency of a foreign bank, or other supervised financial institution to: (1) A state financial institution supervisory agency having direct supervisory authority over such supervised financial institution; or (2) A state financial institution supervisory agency not having direct supervisory authority over such supervised financial institution if the requesting agency has entered into an information sharing agreement with the appropriate Federal Reserve Bank and the information to be provided concerns a supervised financial institution that has acquired or has applied to acquire a financial institution subject to that agency's direct supervisory authority. (e) Discretionary disclosures. The Board may determine, from time to time, to authorize other disclosures of confidential information as necessary. (f) Conditions and limitations. The Board may impose any conditions or limitations on disclosure under this section that it determines are necessary to effect the purposes of this regulation. (g) Other disclosure prohibited. All confidential supervisory information or other information made available under this section shall remain the property of the Board. No supervised financial institution, financial institution supervisory agency, person, or any other party to whom the information is made available, or any other officer, director, employee or agent thereof, may disclose such information without the prior written permission of the Board's General Counsel except in published statistical material that does not disclose, either directly or when used in conjunction with publicly available information, the affairs of any individual, corporation, or other entity. No person obtaining access to confidential supervisory information pursuant to this section may make a personal copy of any such information; and no person may remove confidential supervisory information from the premises of the institution or agency in possession of such information except as permitted by specific language in this regulation or by the Board. (h) Disclosure of Foreign Bank Confidential Report of Operations—(1) Availability of Foreign Bank Confidential Report of Operations to Bank Supervisory Agencies. Notwithstanding any other provision of this regulation, any Confidential Report of Operations (Form F.R. 2068) of a foreign banking organization may, upon written request to and approval by the Director of the Division of Banking Supervision and Regulation (or his delegee), and with the concurrence of the General Counsel (or his delegee), be made available for inspection to another bank supervisory authority having general supervision of any United States branch, agency, subsidiary bank or commercial lending company of the foreign banking organization, only for use where necessary in the performance of official duties. These reports shall be made available for inspection by authorized persons only on Federal Reserve premises under the same procedures as apply to personnel of the Federal Reserve System. All reports made available under this paragraph shall remain the property of the Board; and no person, agency or authority who obtains access to any such report, or any officer, director, or employee thereof, shall publish, publicize, or otherwise disclose any information contained in the report to any person. (2) Restrictions on disclosure by Federal Reserve System employees. It is the Board's policy that the confidentiality of a foreign banking organization's Confidential Report of Operations (Form F.R. 2068) should be maintained at all times. Except as provided by paragraph (h)(1) of this section, information submitted to the Board as part of any Confidential Report of Operations is not available for public inspection by any person other than an officer, employee, or agent of the Board or of a Federal Reserve Bank properly entitled to such information in the performance of such person's official duties. Any employee that violates this section by releasing such a report to any unauthorized person may be subject to disciplinary action under 12 CFR 264.735–5 (Rules of Employee Responsibilities and Conduct). [53 FR 20815, June 7, 1988. Redesignated at 62 FR 54359, Oct. 20, 1997] (a) Disclosure upon request. Upon written request, the Board may make available to appropriate law enforcement agencies and to other nonfinancial institution supervisory agencies for use where necessary in the performance of official duties, reports of examination and inspection, confidential supervisory information, and other confidential documents and information of the Board concerning banks, bank holding companies and their subsidiaries, U.S. branches and agencies of foreign banks, and other examined institutions. (b) Eligibility. Federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies and other nonfinancial institution supervisory agencies may file written requests with the Board for access to confidential documents and information under this section of the regulation. Properly accredited foreign law enforcement agencies and other foreign government agencies may also file written requests with the Board. (c) Contents of request. To obtain access to confidential documents or information under this section of the regulation, the head of the law enforcement agency or nonfinancial institution supervisory agency (or their designees) shall address a letter request to the Board's General Counsel, specifying: (1) The particular information, kinds of information, and where possible, the particular documents to which access is sought; (2) The reasons why such information cannot be obtained from the examined institution in question rather than from the Board; (3) A statement of the law enforcement purpose or other purpose for which the information shall be used; (4) Whether the requested disclosure is permitted or restricted in any way by applicable law or regulation; (5) A commitment that the information requested shall not be disclosed to any person outside the agency without the written permission of the Board or its General Counsel; and (6) If the document or information requested includes customer account information subject to the Right to Financial Privacy Act, as amended (12 U.S.C. 3401 et seq.), a statement that such customer account information need not be provided, or a statement as to why the Act does not apply to the request, or a certification that the requesting agency has complied with the requirements of the Act. (d) Action on request. (1) The General Counsel shall review each request and may approve the request upon determining that: (i) The request complies with this section; (ii) The information is needed in connection with a formal investigation or other official duties of the requesting agency; (iii) Satisfactory assurances of confidentiality have been given; and (iv) No law prohibits the requested disclosure. (2) The General Counsel may impose any conditions or limitations on disclosure that the General Counsel determines to be necessary to effect the purposes of this regulation or to insure compliance with applicable laws or regulations. (e) Federal and state grand jury, criminal trial, and government administrative subpoenas. The Board's General Counsel shall review and may approve the disclosure of confidential information pursuant to Federal and state grand jury, criminal trial, and government administrative subpoenas. The General Counsel may impose such conditions or limitations on disclosure under this section that the General Counsel determines are necessary to effect the purposes of this regulation, to insure compliance with applicable laws or regulations, or to protect the confidentiality of the Board's information. (f) Requests for testimony or interviews. Government agencies seeking to obtain testimony or interviews from current and former Federal Reserve System staff concerning any confidential information of the Board shall use the procedures set out in paragraph (c) of this section. (g) Other disclosure prohibited. All reports and information made available under this section remain the property of the Board, and except as otherwise provided in this regulation, no person, agency, or authority to whom the information is made available, or any officer, director, or employee thereof, may disclose any such information except in published statistical material that does not disclose, either directly or when used in conjunction with publicly available information, the affairs of any individual or corporation. [53 FR 20815, June 7, 1988. Redesignated at 62 FR 54359, Oct. 20, 1997] (a) Board policy. It is the Board's policy regarding confidential supervisory information that such information is confidential and privileged. Accordingly, the Board will not normally disclose this information to the public. The Board, when considering a request for disclosure of confidential supervisory information under this section, will not authorize disclosure unless the person requesting disclosure is able to show a substantial need for such information that outweighs the need to maintain confidentiality. (b) Requests for disclosure—(1) Requests from litigants for information or testimony. Any person (except agencies identified in §§261.20 and 261.21 of this regulation) seeking access to confidential supervisory information or seeking to obtain the testimony of present or former Board or Reserve Bank employees on matters involving confidential supervisory information of the Board, whether by deposition or otherwise, for use in litigation before a court, board, commission, or agency, shall file a written request with the General Counsel of the Board. The request shall describe: (i) The particular information, kinds of information, and where possible, the particular documents to which access is sought; (ii) The judicial or administrative action for which the confidential supervisory information is sought; (iii) The relationship of the confidential supervisory information to the issues or matters raised by the judicial or administrative action; (iv) The requesting person's need for the information; (v) The reason why the requesting person cannot obtain the information sought from any other source; and (vi) A commitment to obtain a protective order acceptable to the Board from the judicial or administrative tribunal hearing the action preserving the confidentiality of any information that is provided. (2) All other requests. Any other person (except agencies identified in §§261.20 and 261.21 of this regulation) seeking access to confidential supervisory information for any other purpose shall file a written request with the General Counsel of the Board. A request under this paragraph (b)(2) shall describe the purpose for which such disclosure is sought. (c) Action on request—(1) Determination of approval. The General Counsel of the Board may approve a request made under this section provided that he or she determines that: (i) The person making the request has shown a substantial need for confidential supervisory information that outweighs the need to maintain confidentiality; and (ii) Disclosure is consistent with the supervisory and regulatory responsibilities and policies of the Board. (2) Conditions or limitations. The General Counsel of the Board may, in approving a request, impose such conditions or limitations on use of any information disclosed as is deemed necessary to protect the confidentiality of the Board's information. (d) Exhaustion of administrative remedies for discovery purposes in civil, criminal, or administrative action. Action on a request under this section by the General Counsel of the Board shall exhaust administrative remedies for discovery purposes in any civil, criminal, or administrative proceeding. A request made pursuant to §261.12 of this regulation does not exhaust administrative remedies for discovery purposes. Therefore, it is not necessary to file a request pursuant to §261.12 to exhaust administrative remedies under this section. (e) Other disclosure prohibited. All confidential supervisory information made available under this section shall remain the property of the Board. Any person in possession of such information shall not use or disclose such information for any purpose other than that authorized by the General Counsel of the Board without his or her prior written approval. [53 FR 20815, June 7, 1988. Redesignated at 62 FR 54359, Oct. 20, 1997; corrected at 62 FR 62508, Nov. 24, 1997] (a) Advice by person served. Any person (including any officers, employee, or agent of the Board or any Federal Reserve Bank) who has documents or information of the Board that may not be disclosed and who is served with a subpoena, order, or other judicial or administrative process requiring his or her personal attendance as a witness or requiring the production of documents or information in any proceeding, shall: (1) Promptly inform the Board's General Counsel of the service and all relevant facts, including the documents and information requested, and any facts of assistance to the Board in determining whether the material requested should be made available; and (2) At the appropriate time inform the court or tribunal that issued the process and the attorney for the party at whose instance the process was issued of the substance of these rules. (b) Appearance by person served. Unless the Board has authorized disclosure of the information requested, any person who has Board information that may not be disclosed, and who is required to respond to a subpoena or other legal process, shall attend at the time and place required and decline to disclose or to give any testimony with respect to the information, basing such refusal upon the provisions of this regulation. If the court or other body orders the disclosure of the information or the giving of testimony, the person having the information shall continue to decline to disclose the information and shall promptly report the facts to the Board for such action as the Board may deem appropriate. [53 FR 20815, June 7, 1988. Redesignated at 62 FR 54359, Oct. 20, 1997]
Title 12: Banks and Banking
PART 261—RULES REGARDING AVAILABILITY OF INFORMATION
Subpart C—Confidential Information Made Available to Supervised Institutions, Financial Institution Supervisory Agencies, Law Enforcement Agencies, and Others in Certain Circumstances
§ 261.20 Confidential supervisory information made available to supervised financial institutions and financial institution supervisory agencies.
§ 261.21 Confidential information made available to law enforcement agencies and other nonfinancial institution supervisory agencies.
§ 261.22 Other disclosure of confidential supervisory information.
§ 261.23 Subpoenas, orders compelling production, and other process.
