Final rule issued on updates for public information released by interest-rate-setting committee

A final rule making technical, clarifying updates on regulations for making information publicly available through Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests was approved by the Federal Reserve Thursday, which generally is similar to the proposal issued in October of last year, the central bank said.

The Fed said the final rule makes non-substantive updates to the rules followed by its interest-rate setting Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) to be consistent with the panel’s current practices and to incorporate recent changes in law and guidance.

The Fed said the revisions to the final rule made through the comment process clarify terms and help users more easily navigate the process of filing a FOIA request. “Additionally, the final rule incorporates formatting and language from the Federal Reserve Board’s revisions to its own FOIA regulation, which became effective Oct. 15, 2020,” the Fed said.

The final rule is effective 30 days after publication in the Federal Register.

Federal Reserve announces final rule making technical, clarifying changes to the Federal Open Market Committee’s rules describing its Freedom of Information Act procedures