District Circular Letters

October 3, 2001

BANKING SUPERVISION AND REGULATION:
Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act Workshop
And
New Educational Website On Economics

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

Workshop To Discuss Strategies for Providing Effective Financial Privacy Notices

An interagency-sponsored public workshop on Gramm-Leach-Bliley (GLB) Act privacy notices will be held on Tuesday, December 4, 2001, from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. at the Federal Trade Commission, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Room 432, Washington, D.C. 20580. The workshop will provide a forum to identify successful GLB Act privacy notices, discuss strategies for communicating complex information, and encourage industry self-regulatory efforts and consumer and business education. The workshop will bring together financial institutions, consumer and privacy groups, experts on readability and consumer communication, and others to discuss the issues through moderated panel discussions.

The GLB Act (Pub. L. No. 106-102) was signed into law on November 12, 1999. The eight federal agencies (GLB Agencies) co-sponsoring the workshop issued regulations implementing the privacy provisions of the GLB Act. Consistent with the Act, those regulations provide consumers the opportunity, with certain exceptions, to prevent financial institutions from disclosing consumer information to nonaffiliated third parties. They also require financial institutions to provide privacy notices to consumers.

The GLB Agencies are: the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System; the Commodity Futures Trading Commission; the Department of Treasury, Offices of the Comptroller of the Currency and of Thrift Supervision; the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation; the Federal Trade Commission; the National Credit Union Administration; and the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The event is open to the public and there is no fee for attendance. Pre-registration is strongly encouraged as seating is limited. The announcement of the workshop is posted on the FTC's Web site at http://www.ftc.gov/glbworkshop. To pre-register, please email your name and affiliation to glbworkshop@ftc.gov by November 16, 2001. A detailed agenda and additional information on the workshop will be posted on the website before December 4, 2001. In addition, after the workshop, a transcript will be posted on the FTC website at http://www.ftc.gov.

New Educational Website on the Federal Reserve and U.S. Economics

The Federal Reserve Board has launched a new interactive website developed by the economic educators of the Federal Reserve System. This site offers students, educators, and the general public an introduction to the workings of the Federal Reserve System.

By logging onto http://www.FederalReserveEducation.org and clicking on "FED101," visitors to the site can access lessons in a user-friendly format on the Federal Reserve’s role in the U.S. economy.

"The Federal Reserve has actively promoted economic education and better public understanding of the roles of the Federal Reserve System for many years," said Alan Greenspan, Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. "This web site is intended to improve the information resources available to educators, students, and others with an interest in the Federal Reserve and how it works."

"FED101" is designed to supplement high school and college economics and social studies classes, but is a valuable resource for all ages. The site covers a wide array of topics including the Federal Reserve’s history, its structure, and its functions in the areas of monetary policy, banking supervision, and financial services. Interactive graphics and a series of quizzes and self-tests make it easy for visitors to learn how the Federal Reserve System carries out its many duties.

The web site is an outgrowth of "The Fed Today," a new educational video narrated and hosted by Charles Osgood.

FEDERAL RESERVE BANK OF SAN FRANCISCO