Tuesday, August 31, 2010
The fight over the release of Federal Reserve documents revealing which banks received emergency bailout funds from the Fed during the height of the 2008 financial crisis appears headed to the U.S. Supreme Court, now that the financial industry has again lost in court.
The Clearing House Payment Company, a group of twenty major banks that includes Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, Citibank and Wells Fargo, asked a U.S. appellate court in New York to reconsider its decision upholding a lower court ruling that favored two media organizations, Bloomberg News and Fox Business News, seeking Fed records through the Freedom of Information Act.
However, the appeals court declined to reconsider its ruling. The banks argue that if the information was revealed, it would hurt the reputation of the banks that received help and discourage banks from seeking loans during the next financial crisis.
The last hope the banks have to prevent disclosure of the bailout information is to appeal to the Supreme Court.
-Noel Brinkerhoff
Court Rejects Fed's Latest Attempt to Keep Bailout Records Secret (by Michael Smallberg, Project on Government Oversight)
Big Banks Vow to Fight Federal Reserve Loan Disclosures (by Noel Brinkerhoff, AllGov)
Appeals Court Orders Federal Reserve to Release Bank Bailout Records (by Noel Brinkerhoff, AllGov)
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