Rule Allows Public Access to Information

WASHINGTON (CN) - The Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection (BCFP), created under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, is implementing provisions of the act that allow for improved access to BCFP records under the Freedom of Information Act.

The rule is split into five parts, including Part B, which specifically implements the FOIA, granting the public an "enforceable right to obtain access to or copies of federal agency records unless disclosure of those records, or information contained within them, is exempt from disclosure pursuant to one or more statutory exemptions and exclusions."

Part C sets procedures for "serving the bureau and its employees with copies of documents in connection with legal proceedings, such as summonses, complaints, subpoenas and other litigation-related requests or demands for the bureau's records or official information."

Part D pertains to the protection and disclosure of confidential information and its prohibition of the bureau and its employees from disclosing confidential information to non-employees.

"The bureau recognizes that much of the information that it will generate and obtain during the course of its activities will be commercially, competitively and personally sensitive in nature, and generally warrants heightened protection," the BCFP said. "The need for greater protection for these categories of information is reflected in the substantive law of privilege and in various statutes, including the FOIA and the Privacy Act of 1974, that provide for the protection of such information from disclosure," the BCFP said.

Subscribe to Closing Arguments

Sign up for new weekly newsletter Closing Arguments to get the latest about ongoing trials, major litigation and hot cases and rulings in courthouses around the U.S. and the world.

Email *

Submit