[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 17, Volume 1]
[Revised as of April 1, 2007]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 17CFR147.3]

[Page 545-547]
 
              TITLE 17--COMMODITY AND SECURITIES EXCHANGES
 
             CHAPTER I--COMMODITY FUTURES TRADING COMMISSION
 
PART 147_OPEN COMMISSION MEETINGS--Table of Contents
 
Sec.  147.3  General requirement of open meetings; grounds upon which meetings 

may be closed.

    (a) Commissioners shall not jointly conduct or dispose of agency 
business other than in accordance with the rules of this part, and 
meetings shall not be held in places which restrict membership or 
attendance or otherwise discriminate on the basis of race, color, creed, 
national origin, ancestry, religion or sex. Except as provided in 
paragraph (b) of this section, every portion of every meeting of the 
Commission shall be open to public observation.
    (b) Except where the Commission finds that the public interest 
requires otherwise, meetings or portions of meetings shall not be open 
to public observation, and the requirements of Sec. Sec.  147.4, 147.5 
and 147.6 shall not apply to any information pertaining to such meetings 
or portions of meetings otherwise required by the rules of this part to 
be publicly disclosed, where the Commission determines that such 
meetings or portions of meetings or the disclosure of such information 
is likely to:
    (1) Disclose matters that (i) are specifically authorized under 
criteria established by an Executive order to be kept secret in the 
interests of national defense or foreign policy, and (ii) are in fact 
properly classified pursuant to such Executive order;
    (2) Relate solely to the internal personnel rules and personnel 
practices of the Commission or any other agency of the Government of the 
United States, including, but not limited to, operational rules, 
guidelines, and manuals of procedure for investigators, auditors, and 
other employees (other than those rules and practices which establish 
legal requirements to which members of the public are expected to 
conform);
    (3) Disclose matters specifically exempted from disclosure by 
statute (other than the Freedom of Information Act, as amended, 5 U.S.C. 
552), provided that such statute (i) requires that the matters be 
withheld from the public in such a manner as to leave no discretion on 
the issue, or (ii) establishes particular criteria for withholding or 
refers to particular types of matters to be withheld. This includes, but 
is not limited to, data and information which would separately disclose 
the business transactions or market positions of any person and trade 
secrets or names of customers and data and information concerning or 
obtained in connection with any pending investigation of any person;
    (4)(i) Disclose trade secrets and commercial or financial 
information obtained from a person and privileged or confidential 
including, but not limited to:
    (A) Reports of stocks of grain, such as Forms 38, 38C, 38M and 38T, 
required to be filed pursuant to 17 CFR 1.44;
    (B) Statements of reporting traders on Form 40 required to be filed 
pursuant to 17 CFR 18.04;
    (C) Statements concerning special calls on positions required to be 
filed pursuant to 17 CFR part 21;
    (D) Statements concerning identification of special accounts on Form 
102 required to be filed pursuant to 17 CFR 17.01;
    (E) Reports required to be filed pursuant to parts 15 through 21 of 
this chapter;
    (F) Reports concerning option positions of large traders required to 
be filed pursuant to part 16 of this chapter;
    (G) Form 188; and
    (H) The following reports and statements that are also set forth in 
paragraph (b)(8) of this section, except as specified in 17 CFR 
1.10(g)(2) or 17 CFR 31.13(m): Forms 1-FR required to be filed pursuant 
to 17 CFR 1.10; FOCUS reports that are filed in lieu of Forms 1-FR 
pursuant to 17 CFR 1.10(h); Forms

[[Page 546]]

2-FR required to be filed pursuant to 17 CFR 31.13; the accountant's 
report on material inadequacies filed in accordance with 17 CFR 
1.16(c)(5); and all reports and statements required to be filed pursuant 
to 17 CFR 1.17(c)(6);
    (ii) Information contained in reports, summaries, analyses, 
transcripts, letters or memoranda arising out of, in anticipation of or 
in connection with an examination or inspection of the books and records 
of any person or any other formal or informal inquiry or investigation; 
and
    (iii) Information for which confidential treatment has been 
requested and granted in accordance with 17 CFR 145.9;
    (5) Involve accusing any person of a crime, or formally censuring 
any person, including but not limited to:
    (i) Requests by the Commission that the Attorney General of the 
United States institute a criminal action against any person believed to 
have violated any provision of the Commodity Exchange Act, as amended, 7 
U.S.C. 1, et seq., or any rule, regulation or order thereunder;
    (ii) The consideration of any administrative proceeding instituted 
or to be instituted by the Commission against any person for a violation 
of the Commodity Exchange Act, as amended, 7 U.S.C. 1, et seq., or any 
rule, regulation or order thereunder;
    (6) Disclose information of a personal nature where disclosure would 
constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy, 
including, but not limited to, information of that character contained 
in:
    (i) Files concerning employees of the Commission;
    (ii) Files concerning persons subject to regulation by the 
Commission, including files with respect to applications for 
registration and biographical supplements submitted with such 
applications. Examples of the information on the applications and 
biographical supplements which may be protected are an individual's home 
address and telephone number, social security number, date and place of 
birth, fingerprints and, in appropriate cases, the information 
concerning prior arrests, indictments, criminal convictions or other 
judgments or sanctions imposed by State or Federal courts or regulatory 
authorities; and
    (iii) Files containing information for which confidential treatment 
has been requested and granted in accordance with 17 CFR 145.9;
    (7) Disclose investigatory records compiled for law enforcement 
purposes, or information which if written would be contained in such 
records, to the extent that production of such records or information 
would (i) interfere with enforcement proceedings, (ii) deprive a person 
of a right to a fair trial or an impartial adjudication, (iii) 
constitute an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy, (iv) disclose 
the identity of a confidential source, (v) disclose investigative 
techniques and procedures, or (vi) endanger the life or physical safety 
of law enforcement personnel. Investigatory records and information 
include all documents, records, transcripts, correspondence and related 
memoranda and work-product concerning examinations and other inquiries 
or investigations and related litigation as authorized by law, which 
pertain to or may disclose the possible violations by any person of any 
provision of law, including the Commodity Exchange Act, as amended, or 
of any rule or regulation adopted by the Commission or which pertain to 
the qualifications of any person registered or seeking registration 
under that Act or of any person affiliated with such person; and all 
written communications from or to any person who has confidentially 
complained or otherwise furnished information respecting such possible 
violations, as well as all correspondence and memoranda in connection 
with such confidential complaints or information;
    (8) Disclose information contained in or related to examination, 
operating, or condition reports prepared by, on behalf of, or for the 
use of the Commission or any other agency responsible for the regulation 
or supervision of financial institutions, including, but not limited to 
the following reports and statements that are also set forth in 
paragraph (b)(4)(i)(H) of this section, except as specified in 17 CFR 
1.10(g)(2) or 17 CFR 31.13(m): Forms 1-FR required to be filed pursuant 
to 17 CFR 1.10; FOCUS reports that are filed in

[[Page 547]]

lieu of Forms 1-FR pursuant to 17 CFR 1.10(h); Forms 2-FR required to be 
filed pursuant to 17 CFR 31.13; the accountant's report on material 
inadequacies filed in accordance with 17 CFR 1.16(c)(5); and all reports 
and statements required to be filed pursuant to 17 CFR 1.17(c)(6);
    (9) Disclose information the premature disclosure of which would be 
likely to (i) lead to significant financial speculation in currencies, 
securities, or commodities, (ii) significantly endanger the stability of 
any financial institution, or (iii) frustrate significantly the 
implementation of a proposed Commission action, except where the 
Commission has already disclosed to the public the content or nature of 
its proposed action, or where the Commission is required by law to make 
such disclosure on its own initiative prior to taking final Commission 
action on such proposal; or
    (10) Specifically concern the Commission's issuance of a subpena, or 
the Commission's participation in a civil action or proceeding, an 
action in a foreign court or international tribunal, or an arbitration, 
or the initiation, conduct, or disposition by the Commission of a 
particular case of formal agency ajudication pursuant to the procedures 
in 5 U.S.C. 554 or otherwise involving a determination on the record 
after opportunity for a hearing.

(5 U.S.C. 552, 5 U.S.C. 552b, and secs. 2(a)(11), 4b, 4f, 4g, 5a, 8a, 
and 17 of the Commodity Exchange Act, 7 U.S.C. 2, 4a(j), 6b, 6f, 6g, 7a, 
12a, and 21, as amended, 92 Stat. 865 et seq.; secs. 2(a)(1), 4c(a)-(d), 
4d, 4f, 4g, 4k, 4m, 4n, 8a, 15 and 17, Commodity Exchange Act (7 U.S.C. 
2, 4, 6c(a)-(d), 6f, 6g, 6k, 6m, 6n, 12a, 19 and 21; 5 U.S.C. 552 and 
552b); secs. 2(a)(11) and 8, 7 U.S.C. 4a(j) and 12 (1983); secs. 8a(5) 
and 19 of the Commodity Exchange Act, as amended, 7 U.S.C. 12a(5) and 23 
(1982); 5 U.S.C. 552 and 552b)

[42 FR 13704, Mar. 11, 1977, as amended at 42 FR 42851, Aug. 25, 1977; 
44 FR 13458, Mar. 12, 1979; 45 FR 2023, Jan. 10, 1980; 46 FR 24943, May 
4, 1981; 46 FR 54534, Nov. 3, 1981; 48 FR 35303, Aug. 3, 1983; 49 FR 
4465, Feb. 7, 1984; 49 FR 5541, Feb. 13, 1984; 53 FR 4613, Feb. 17, 
1988; 54 FR 41084, Oct. 5, 1989; 62 FR 4642, Jan. 31, 1997; 64 FR 27, 
Jan. 4, 1999; 71 FR 5595, Feb. 2, 2006]