Regulators fret over FOIA reform bill

Financial regulators and the banking industry are raising concerns about bipartisan legislation that would expand the public's access to government documents, according to lawmakers. Members of Congress have sought to clarify that their proposals to update the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) would not erode protections that prevent the public from obtaining sensitive banking information that regulators see as part of their supervision of the financial sector. And while regulators and the banking industry have remained publicly silent, lawmakers are echoing their private warnings.

Before the House Oversight Committee approved a reform bill, Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) unsuccessfully attempted to attach a clarifying provision to the legislation. The regulator and industry concerns do not appear strong enough to stymie reform. Similar FOIA reform bills in the House and Senate have already made it through committee, and both received unanimous approval in their respective chambers in the 113th Congress. The worry surfaced late in 2014 and deals with one of the major provisions of the reform bills that would mandate a "presumption of openness" on the part of federal agencies. Rep Maloney voiced concerns that the presumption could specifically weaken Exemption 8 of FOIA, which prevents the public from obtaining examination or report material that regulators use during oversight of financial institutions. If that happened, she said, banks might be less candid with regulators, knowing the information could one day become public.