5.9—Public availability.
(a) General.
The OCC provides a copy of the public file to any person who requests it. A requestor should submit a request for the public file concerning a pending application to the appropriate district office. A requestor should submit a request for the public file concerning a decided or closed application to the Disclosure Officer, Communications Division, at the address listed in the Manual. Requests should be in writing. The OCC may impose a fee in accordance with 12 CFR 4.17 and with the rates the OCC publishes annually in the “Notice of Comptroller of the Currency Fees” described in 12 CFR 8.8.
(b) Public file.
A public file consists of the portions of the filing, supporting data, supplementary information, and information submitted by interested persons, to the extent that those documents have not been afforded confidential treatment. Applicants and other interested persons may request that confidential treatment be afforded information submitted to the OCC pursuant to paragraph (c) of this section.
(c) Confidential treatment.
The applicant or an interested person submitting information may request that specific information be treated as confidential under the Freedom of Information Act, 5 U.S.C. 552 (see 12 CFR 4.12(b) ). A submitter should draft its request for confidential treatment narrowly to extend only to those portions of a document it considers to be confidential. If a submitter requests confidential treatment for information that the OCC does not consider to be confidential, the OCC may include that information in the public file after providing notice to the submitter. Moreover, at its own initiative, the OCC may determine that certain information should be treated as confidential and withhold that information from the public file. A person requesting information withheld from the public file should submit the request to the Disclosure Officer, Communications Division, under the procedures described in 12 CFR part 4, subpart B. That request may be subject to the predisclosure notice procedures of 12 CFR 4.16.