[Code of Federal Regulations]

[Title 12, Volume 7]

[Revised as of January 1, 2006]

From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access

[CITE: 12CFR1102.309]



[Page 265-266]

 

                       TITLE 12--BANKS AND BANKING

 

     CHAPTER XI--FEDERAL FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS EXAMINATION COUNCIL

 

PART 1102_APPRAISER REGULATION--Table of Contents

 

     Subpart D_Description of Office, Procedures, Public Information

 

Sec. 1102.309  Confidential treatment procedures.



    (a) In general. Any submitter of written information to the ASC who 

desires that some or all of his or her submission be afforded 

confidential treatment under 5 U.S.C. 552(b)(4) (i.e., trade secrets and 

commercial or financial information obtained from a person and 

privileged or confidential) shall file a request for confidential 

treatment with the Executive Director of the ASC at the time the written 

information is submitted to the ASC or within ten business days 

thereafter. Nothing in this section limits the authority of the ASC and 

its staff to make determinations regarding access to documents under 

this subpart.

    (b) Form of request. A request for confidential treatment shall be 

submitted in a separate letter or memorandum conspicuously entitled, 

``Request for Confidential Treatment.'' Each request shall state in 

reasonable detail the facts and arguments supporting the request and its 

legal justification. If the submitter had been required by the ASC to 

provide the particular information, conclusory statements that the 

information would be useful to competitors or would impair sales or 

similar statements generally will not be considered sufficient to 

justify confidential treatment. When the submitter had voluntarily 

provided the particular information to the ASC, the submitter must 

specifically identify the documents or information which are of a kind 

the submitter would not customarily make available to the public.

    (c) Designation and separation of confidential material. Submitters 

shall clearly designate all information considered confidential and 

shall clearly separate such information from other non-confidential 

information, whenever possible.

    (d) ASC action on request. A request for confidential treatment of 

information will be considered only in connection with a request for 

access to the information under FOIA as implemented by this subpart. 

Upon the receipt of a request for access, the Executive Director or his 

or her designee (``ASC Officer'') as soon as possible shall provide the 

submitter with a written notice describing the request and shall provide 

the submitter with a reasonable opportunity, no longer than ten business 

days, to submit written objections to disclosure of the information. 

Notice may be given orally, and such notice shall be promptly confirmed 

in writing.



[[Page 266]]



The ASC Officer may provide a submitter with a notice if the submitter 

did not request confidential treatment of the requested information. If 

the ASC required the submitter to provide the requested information, the 

ASC Officer would need substantial reason to believe that disclosure of 

the requested information would result in substantial competitive harm 

to the submitter. If the submitter provided the information voluntarily 

to the ASC, the ASC officer would need to believe that the information 

is of a kind the submitter would not customarily make available to the 

public. The ASC Officer similarly shall notify the person seeking 

disclosure of the information under FOIA of the existence of a request 

for confidential treatment. These notice requirements need not be 

followed if the ASC Officer determines under this subpart that the 

information should not be disclosed; the information has been published 

or has been officially made available to the public; disclosure of the 

information is required by law (other than FOIA); or the submitter's 

request for confidential treatment appears obviously frivolous, in such 

instance the submitter shall be given written notice of the 

determination to disclose the information at least five business days 

prior to release. The ASC Officer shall carefully consider the issues 

involved, and if disclosure of the requested information is warranted, a 

written notice, containing a brief description of why the submitter's 

objections were not sustained, must be forwarded to the submitter within 

ten business days. The time for response may be extended up to ten 

additional business days, as provided in 5 U.S.C. 552(a)(6)(B), or for 

other periods by agreement between the requester and the ASC Officer. 

This notice shall be provided to the submitter at least five business 

days prior to release of the requested information.

    (e) Notice of lawsuit. The ASC Officer shall notify a submitter of 

any filing of any suit against the ASC pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 552 to 

compel disclosure of documents or information covered by the submitter's 

request for confidential treatment within ten business days of service 

of the suit. The ASC Officer also shall notify the requester of the 

documents or information of any suit filed by the submitter against the 

ASC to enjoin their disclosure within ten business days of service of 

the suit.



[59 FR 1902, Jan. 13, 1994. Redesignated at 64 FR 72497, Dec. 28, 1999]