CREW FILES AMICUS BRIEFS IN TWO FEDERAL RESERVE BOARD FOIA DISCLOSURE CASES

11 Dec 2009 // CREW has filed two amicus or friend-of-the-court briefs in two related cases presently before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System v. Bloomberg, L.P. and Fox v. Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. Both cases raise the issue of whether the Federal Reserve Board must disclose under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) documents that would reveal those banking institutions that have used the Board’s short-term lending programs and the collateral they pledged in return for the loans. The government has argued in each case that secrecy is critical to prevent a loss of public confidence and the possibly resulting run on the banks. As CREW explained in its briefs, this defense runs completely counter to the Obama administration’s insistence on transparency in other bailout program such as the TARP, where the identities of entities receiving emergency assistance have been made public. There the government has made clear transparency is the key, not the impediment, to increased public confidence. CREW has also sued the Federal Reserve Board in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia based on the Board’s refusal to provide CREW with documents similar to those requested by Fox and Bloomberg.

Read CREW's two briefs in the Related Documents section on the right.