Fed final rule on FIs’ sharing of confidential supervisory info kicks in next month

A final rule announced in July that removes some previous restrictions on financial institutions’ sharing of confidential supervisory information (CSI) under Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requirements was published in the Federal Register Tuesday and is set to take effect Oct. 15.

In announcing its final rule, the Federal Reserve Board said the rule allows supervised financial institutions to share CSI with all affiliates, rather than only with their parent bank holding companies. Under a revision from its June 2019 proposal, the final rule will allow financial institutions to share CSI with service providers without obtaining Reserve Bank approval, it said.

CSI is supervisory information that belongs to the Fed Board that may include proprietary financial institution-specific information, the central bank noted. The Fed said its final rule provides clarifying revisions to the definition of CSI, and, like the proposal, does not expand or reduce the information that falls within the current definition of CSI.

Additionally, the final rule updates the board’s FOIA regulation to be consistent with current practices and to incorporate recent changes in law and guidance.

Federal Register notice

RR: Fed allows FIs to share confidential supervisory info with all affiliates, service providers; clarifies FOIA procedures(July 24, 2020)