[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 2 (Thursday, January 7, 1999)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E43]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               THE BANK EXAMINATION REPORT PROTECTION ACT

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                           HON. BILL McCOLLUM

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                       Wednesday, January 6, 1999

  Mr. McCOLLUM. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of legislation I 
am introducing, the Bank Examination Report Protection Act [BERPA] of 
1999. This bill would establish that all confidential supervisory 
information shall be the property of the Federal banking agency that 
created or requested the information and shall be privileged from 
disclosure to any other person. The Federal banking agency may waive 
this privilege at its discretion. There are other appropriate 
exceptions in the bill, such as for the Comptroller General of the 
United States and for law enforcement.
  Essentially, the issue of privilege is one that must be addressed. 
The fact that financial institutions may lose their privilege on 
information turned over to a regulator has made them more hesitant to 
share all relevant information with their regulators. This, in turn, 
makes it more difficult for the regulators to do a thorough job in 
their examinations of the institutions. In fact, this legislation is 
strongly supported by the affected Federal banking regulators.
  I would like to make sure my colleagues are aware that this 
legislation would maintain existing privileges and protect any 
materials created by the regulators. This would not prevent litigants 
from discovering the underlying facts of any action. All nonprivileged 
sources would still be available in discovery. This would simply ensure 
that examination materials--the critically important function of which 
is facilitate free-flowing communication between the examiner and the 
institution to maximize the effectiveness of the supervisory process--
are not turned into a weapon against the regulated financial 
institution.
  BERPA would ensure that the safety and soundness of our institutions 
is maintained through a vigorous and thorough supervisory process. This 
process is not complete when institutions are not forthcoming with 
information for fear of having information that was at one time 
privileged suddenly become subject to subpoena. Therefore, not only 
does this help the supervisory process, but also the consumers and 
taxpayers that insure these institutions. I urge my colleagues to 
support this legislation.

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