[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 12, Volume 3]
[Revised as of January 1, 2003]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 12CFR261.21]

[Page 711-712]
 
                       TITLE 12--BANKS AND BANKING
 
                   CHAPTER II--FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM
 
PART 261--RULES REGARDING AVAILABILITY OF INFORMATION--Table of Contents
 
    Subpart C--Confidential Information Made Available to Supervised 
     Institutions, Financial Institution Supervisory Agencies, Law 
        Enforcement Agencies, and Others in Certain Circumstances
 
Sec. 261.21  Confidential information made available to law enforcement agencies and other nonfinancial institution supervisory agencies.

    (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

[[Page 712]]

    (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]