District Circular Letters

November 2, 2000

BANKING SUPERVISION AND REGULATION:
COMMENTS REQUESTED ON
CONSISTENT CONSUMER PROTECTION RULES
FOR AFFILIATE INFORMATION SHARING

To State Member Banks, Bank
Holding Companies,
and Others Concerned, U.S. Branches,
And Agencies of Foreign Banks,
And Others Concerned,
in the Twelfth Federal Reserve District

Proposal to Implement the FCRA's notice and Opt-Out Provisions When Sharing Information Among Financial Institution Affiliates (Docket R-1082)

The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, and the Office of Thrift Supervision are proposing rules to implement the Fair Credit Reporting Act's (FCRA) notice and opt-out provisions governing the sharing of information among financial institution affiliates. The rules explain how to comply with affiliate sharing provisions of the FCRA that have been in place since 1996.

Comments are due by December 4, 2000.

The Gramm-Leach Bliley Act (GLBA) restored the Agencies' authority to conduct regular examinations for compliance with the FCRA. In addition, the GLBA authorized the Agencies to issue joint rules implementing the FCRA.

The proposed rules apply to any institution that wants to share consumer information, other than transaction or experience information, with its affiliates, but does not wish to be considered a consumer reporting agency. The consumer information subject to the rule must bear on a consumer's creditworthiness, credit standing, credit capacity, character, general reputation, personal characteristics, or mode of living. An institution intending to share this information with affiliates without becoming a consumer reporting agency must first provide consumers with a notice advising them of their right to opt out of this information sharing, as well as a reasonable opportunity and convenient means to exercise this right.

Copies

Copies of the Board's notice (Docket R-1082) are available from our Corporate Services Department. To request copies to be sent via mail, please call (415) 974-2060. To request copies to be sent via fax, please call (415) 974-3333, and specify for Docket R-1082 document number 4229. Board notices are also available via the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco's Internet site, at http://www.frbsf.org/banking/letters/index.html.

Additional Information

For additional information regarding this matter, please contact our Banking Supervision and Regulation Department at (415) 974-2967.

FEDERAL RESERVE BANK OF SAN FRANCISCO