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
(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:
(ii)
The information is needed in connection with a formal investigation or other official duties of the requesting agency;
(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.