[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 12, Volume 3, Parts 220 to 299]
[Revised as of January 1, 2001]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 12CFR263.9]

[Page 687-688]
 
                       TITLE 12--BANKS AND BANKING
 
                   CHAPTER II--FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM
 
PART 263--RULES OF PRACTICE FOR HEARINGS--Table of Contents
 
           Subpart A--Uniform Rules of Practice and Procedure
 
Sec. 263.9  Ex parte communications.

    (a) Definition--(1) Ex parte communication means any material oral 
or written communication relevant to the merits of an adjudicatory 
proceeding that was neither on the record nor on reasonable prior notice 
to all parties that takes place between:
    (i) An interested person outside the Board (including such person's 
counsel); and
    (ii) The administrative law judge handling that proceeding, a member 
of the Board, or a decisional employee.
    (2) Exception. A request for status of the proceeding does not 
constitute an ex parte communication.
    (b) Prohibition of ex parte communications. From the time the notice 
is issued by the Board until the date that the Board issues its final 
decision pursuant to Sec. 263.40(c):
    (1) No interested person outside the Federal Reserve System shall 
make or knowingly cause to be made an ex parte communication to a member 
of the Board, the administrative law judge, or a decisional employee; 
and
    (2) A member of the Board, administrative law judge, or decisional 
employee shall not make or knowingly cause to be made to any interested 
person outside the Federal Reserve System any ex parte communication.
    (c) Procedure upon occurrence of ex parte communication. If an ex 
parte communication is received by the administrative law judge, a 
member of the Board or any other person identified in paragraph (a) of 
this section, that person shall cause all such written communications 
(or, if the communication is oral, a memorandum stating the substance of 
the communication) to be placed on the record of the proceeding and 
served on all parties. All other parties to the proceeding shall have an 
opportunity, within ten days of receipt of service of the ex parte 
communication,

[[Page 688]]

to file responses thereto and to recommend any sanctions, in accordance 
with paragraph (d) of this section, that they believe to be appropriate 
under the circumstances.
    (d) Sanctions. Any party or his or her counsel who makes a 
prohibited ex parte communication, or who encourages or solicits another 
to make any such communication, may be subject to any appropriate 
sanction or sanctions imposed by the Board or the administrative law 
judge including, but not limited to, exclusion from the proceedings and 
an adverse ruling on the issue which is the subject of the prohibited 
communication.
    (e) Separation of functions. Except to the extent required for the 
disposition of ex parte matters as authorized by law, the administrative 
law judge may not consult a person or party on any matter relevant to 
the merits of the adjudication, unless on notice and opportunity for all 
parties to participate. An employee or agent engaged in the performance 
of investigative or prosecuting functions for the Board in a case may 
not, in that or a factually related case, participate or advise in the 
decision, recommended decision, or agency review of the recommended 
decision under Sec. 263.40, except as witness or counsel in public 
proceedings.

[56 FR 38052, Aug. 9, 1991, as amended at 59 FR 65245, Dec. 19, 1994]