June 13, 1997

RULES REGARDING
AVAILABILITY OF INFORMATION

To Banks, Bank Holding Companies,
Uninsured State Chartered Branches
Agencies of Foreign Banks, and Others Concerned
in the Twelfth Federal Reserve District

Proposed Amendments to the Rules Regarding Availability of Information (Docket R-0975)

The Federal Reserve Board (Board) has proposed to amend its Rules Regarding Availability of Information (Rules) to reflect recent changes in the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) as a result of the Electronic Freedom of Information Act Amendments (EFOIA).

Comments must be submitted on or before July 25, 1997.

In addition to proposing appropriate amendments to its Rules to comply with EFOIA, the Board has taken this opportunity, in accordance with section 303 of the Riegle Community Development and Regulatory Improvement Act of 1994, to review and streamline those Rules.

In addition, the Board is proposing to amend the Rules to take account of various statutes that have been enacted since the Rules were last revised in 1988. Section 913 of the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery, and Enforcement Act of 1989 and section 2547 of the Bank Fraud Act (codified at 12 U.S.C. 1818(u)), for example, require the Board to "publish and make available to the public" enforcement orders, including any modifications or terminations thereof, and certain other enforceable written actions. Such documents were previously included under the definition of "confidential supervisory information," the disclosure of which is restricted under language in the Board's Rules.

Copies

Copies of the Board's notice (Docket R-0975) are available from our Corporate Services Department. To request copies to be sent via mail, please call (415) 974-2748. To request copies to be sent via fax, please call (415) 974-3333, and specify document number 4153.

Additional Information

For additional information about the Board s Rules Regarding Availability of Information, please contact our Banking Supervision and Regulation Department, at (415) 974-3007.

FEDERAL RESERVE BANK OF SAN FRANCISCO