Financial Stability Oversight Council Proposes FOIA Regulations

The Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC) has proposed regulations to implement the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). The council was created by the 2010 Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act to monitor risks to the financial system.

Each agency subject to FOIA adopts regulations to establish its procedures under the law. Unfortunately, the regulations proposed by FSOC would be cumbersome for requesters and fail to take advantage of modern technology.

OMB Watch filed comments last week on the proposed regulations, which recommend that FSOC strengthen the regulations to increase online disclosures, allow requesters to submit FOIA requests electronically, and relax the bureaucratic rules for a request to be processed.

Several other organizations submitted comments making similar recommendations, including the Office of Government Information Services, Public Citizen and the Project on Government Oversight, and Americans for Financial Reform.

Maybe the most surprising aspect of the proposed regulations is that they anticipate all communication about FOIA requests to be done by mail. However, many requesters would prefer to correspond by email, both when making an initial request as well as with follow-up questions. Moving to email as the default medium would be a win-win, saving time for requesters and printing and postage costs for the agency.

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