TITLE 12 - BANKS AND BANKING

CHAPTER II - FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM

SUBCHAPTER A - BOARD OF GOVERNORS OF THE FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM

PART 261 - RULES REGARDING AVAILABILITY OF INFORMATION

subpart b - PUBLISHED INFORMATION AND RECORDS AVAILABLE TO PUBLIC; PROCEDURES FOR REQUESTS

261.12 - Records available to public upon request.

  (a) Types of records made available. All records of the Board that are not available under 261.10 and 261.11 shall be made available upon request, pursuant to the procedures and exceptions in this Subpart B.

  (b) Procedures for requesting records. (1) A request for identifiable records shall reasonably describe the records in a way that enables the Board's staff to identify and produce the records with reasonable effort and without unduly burdening or significantly interfering with any of the Board's operations.

  (2) The request shall be submitted in writing to the Freedom of Information Office, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, 20th & C Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20551; or sent by facsimile to the Freedom of Information Office, (202) 8727562 or 7565. The request shall be clearly marked FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT REQUEST.

  (3) A request may not be combined with any other request to the Board except for a request under 12 CFR 261a.3(a) (Rules Regarding Access to and Review of Personal Information under the Privacy Act of 1974) and a request made under 261.22(b).

  (c) Contents of request. The request shall contain the following information: (1) The name and address of the requester, and the telephone number at which the requester can be reached during normal business hours; (2) Whether the requested information is intended for commercial use, and whether the requester is an educational or noncommercial scientific institution, or news media representative; (3) A statement agreeing to pay the applicable fees, or a statement identifying any desired fee limitation, or a request for a waiver or reduction of fees that satisfies 261.17(f); and (4) If the request is being made in connection with on-going litigation, a statement indicating whether the requester will seek discretionary release of exempt information from the General Counsel upon denial of the request by the Secretary. A requester who intends to make such a request to the General Counsel may also address the factors set forth in 261.22(b).

  (d) Defective requests. The Board need not accept or process a request that does not reasonably describe the records requested or that does not otherwise comply with the requirements of this section. The Board may return a defective request, specifying the deficiency. The requester may submit a corrected request, which will be treated as a new request.

  (e) Oral requests. The Freedom of Information Office may honor an oral request for records, but if the requester is dissatisfied with the Board's response and wishes to seek review, the requester must submit a written request, which shall be treated as an initial request.

[62 FR 54362, Oct. 20, 1997; 62 FR 62508, Nov. 24, 1997]