District Circular Letters

January 23, 2002

BANKING SUPERVISION AND REGULATION:
REGULATION P

To State Member Banks,
Bank Holding Companies
and Others Concerned,
in the Twelfth Federal Reserve District

Frequently Asked Questions on Regulation P Released (CA 01-11)

The Interagency "Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) on Regulation P," created to help financial institutions comply with these agencies' consumer privacy regulations, has been posted to the public website. These FAQs illustrate how select provisions of the regulation apply to specific situations that a financial institution may confront. The document is a series of Frequently Asked Questions, or FAQs, covering various aspects of the privacy rules, including the following:

• Which entities are covered by the privacy rules

• When financial institutions must deliver privacy and opt out notices

• Limits that apply to the use and disclosure of customer information received from an unrelated financial institution

• Limits that apply to the disclosure of customer account numbers

• How to comply with the exception for disclosures under a joint marketing arrangement with an unrelated financial institution

This document does not necessarily address all provisions that may apply to any given situation. Additionally, the FAQs addresses a financial institution’s obligations only under sections 502-509 of the GLB Act and Regulation P and does not address the applicability of the Fair Credit Reporting Act or any other federal or state law that may pertain to the questions and answers.

The question and answer document is available at http://www.federalreserve.gov/boarddocs/press/general/2001/200112122/default.htm.

Additional Information

All circulars and documents are available on the Internet through the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco's Internet site, at http://www.frbsf.org/banking/letters. Paper copies of the "Frequently Asked Questions on Regulation P" are available from our Corporate Services Department. To request copies to be sent by mail, please call (415) 974-2060.

For additional information about the "Frequently Asked Questions on Regulation P" document, please contact our Banking Supervision and Regulation Department at (415) 974-3329.

FEDERAL RESERVE BANK OF SAN FRANCISCO