We recently discovered that the Federal Reserve Board (FRB) has published our Annual Report of Holding Companies (FR Y-6) online. Can we request the FRB to keep this form confidential?

Yes, you may request confidential treatment of your FR Y-6 form; however, you must make this request simultaneously with or within a reasonable time after submitting your form.

The FRB rules and the FR Y-6 form instructions outline the specific steps for making a confidential treatment request, including submitting a letter identifying the specific items you wish to be kept confidential, providing legal justification for confidential treatment, and demonstrating the specific harm that would result from public release of the information. If you do not request confidential treatment of your FR Y-6 form, the FRB assumes that you have consented to its public release.

For resources related to our guidance, please see:

12 CFR 261.15(a) (“Any submitter of information to the Board who desires confidential treatment pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 552(b)(4) and § 261.14 (a)(4) shall file a request for confidential treatment with the Board (or in the case of documents filed with a Federal Reserve Bank, with that Federal Reserve Bank) at the time the information is submitted or a reasonable time after submission.”)

12 CFR 261.15(b) (“Each request for confidential treatment shall state in reasonable detail the facts supporting the request and its legal justification. Conclusory statements that release of the information would cause competitive harm generally will not be considered sufficient to justify confidential treatment.”)

12 CFR 261.15(c) (“All information considered confidential by a submitter shall be clearly designated CONFIDENTIAL in the submission and separated from information for which confidential treatment is not requested. Failure to segregate confidential information from other material may result in release of the nonsegregated material to the public without notice to the submitter.”)

FRB FY-6 Instructions, GEN-2 (September 2017) (“In certain limited circumstances, the Federal Reserve may grant confidential treatment for some or all of the items for which such treatment has been requested if the institution clearly has provided a compelling justification for the request. . . The Reporter must follow the steps outlined immediately below, and certify on the completed and signed page 1 of the FR Y-6 that these steps have been followed. . . it is incumbent on Reporters to make a formal, substantiated request for confidential treatment of any portion of the report that they believe should be kept confidential. . . .”)

FRB FY-6 Instructions, GEN-3 (September 2017) (“Reporters that seek confidential treatment for specific report item responses to the FR Y-6 must divide their report submission into two parts, filed simultaneously. . . The Reporter also must submit a letter prior to or concurrent with submission of the two-part FR Y-6. The written request must identify the specific items for which confidential treatment is requested, provide justification for the confidential treatment requested for the identified items, and must demonstrate the specific nature of the harm that would result from public release of the information. Merely stating that competitive harm would result is not sufficient.”)