Federal Banking Agencies Allow Privacy Notices Under Existing Fair Credit Reporting Act - Brief Article

Federal Reserve Bulletin, May, 2001

Federal banking agencies announced on March 14, 2001, that any final Fair Credit Reporting Act (FRCA) rule will not require depository institutions to revise Gramm-Leach-Bliley (GLB) Act privacy notices prepared in accordance with existing FCRA law and delivered to consumers before January 2002.

The agencies will provide guidance on any final FCRA rule concerning the effect that new requirements imposed in the rule will have on notices sent after January 1, 2002.

The agencies indicated in a Federal Register notice that institutions should not delay delivering their privacy notices in anticipation of a final FCRA rule. The Office of Thrift Supervision, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation jointly issued the notice.

The agencies believe that financial institution customers will benefit by receiving GLB Act privacy notices that accurately describe their institution's information practices before the mandatory GLB Act privacy compliance date, July 1, 2001. In the absence of a final FCRA rule, financial institutions providing GLB Act privacy notices should comply with the FCRA statute when preparing the FCRA portion of their privacy notices.