[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 74 (Monday, April 20, 2009)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 17925-17926]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-8977]


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SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

17 CFR Part 248

[Release Nos. 34-59769, IA-2866, IC-28697; File No. S7-09-07]
RIN 3235-AJO6


Interagency Proposal for Model Privacy Form Under the Gramm-
Leach-Bliley Act

AGENCY: Securities and Exchange Commission.

ACTION: Proposed rule; reopening of comment period.

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SUMMARY: The Securities and Exchange Commission (``Commission'') is 
reopening the period for public comment on proposed amendments to 
Regulation S-P, which implements the privacy provisions of the Gramm-
Leach-Bliley Act (``GLB Act''), originally published in the Federal 
Register on March 29, 2007. The proposed amendments would, if adopted, 
create a safe harbor for a model form that financial institutions may 
use to provide disclosures in initial and annual privacy notices 
required under Regulation S-P.

DATES: Comments should be received on or before May 20, 2009.

ADDRESSES: Comments may be submitted by any of the following methods:

Electronic Comments

     Use the Commission's Internet comment form (http://www.sec.gov/rules/proposed.shtml); or
     Send an e-mail to [email protected]. Please include 
File Number S7-09-07 on the subject line; or
     Use the Federal eRulemaking Portal (http://www.regulations.gov). Follow the instructions for submitting comments.

Paper Comments

     Send paper comments in triplicate to Elizabeth M. Murphy, 
Secretary, Securities and Exchange Commission, 100 F Street, NE., 
Washington, DC 20549-1090.

All submissions should refer to File Number S7-09-07. This file number 
should be included on the subject line if e-mail is used. To help us 
process and review your comments more efficiently, please use only one 
method. The Commission will post all comments on the Commission's 
Internet Web site (http://www.sec.gov/rules/proposed.shtml). Comments 
are also available for public inspection and copying in the 
Commission's Public Reference Room, 100 F Street, NE., Washington, DC 
20549, on official business days between the hours of 10 a.m. and 3 
p.m. All comments received will be posted without change; we do not 
edit personal identifying information from submissions. You should 
submit only information that you wish to make available publicly.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Paula Jenson, Deputy Chief Counsel, or 
Brice Prince, Special Counsel, Office of Chief Counsel, Division of 
Trading and Markets, (202) 551-5550; or Penelope Saltzman, Assistant 
Director, or Thoreau Bartmann, Senior Counsel, Office of Regulatory 
Policy, Division of Investment Management, (202) 551-6792, Securities 
and Exchange Commission, 100 F Street, NE., Washington, DC 20549.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Commission is reopening the period for 
public comment on proposed rule amendments,\1\ which were proposed 
pursuant to the Financial Services Regulatory Relief Act of 2006 (the 
``Act''), enacted on October 13, 2006.\2\ The proposal was published on 
March 29, 2007, and the comment period closed on May 29, 2007. Section 
728 of the Act added subsection (e) to section 503 of the GLB Act, 
which directs the Commission, together with seven other federal 
agencies \3\ (collectively the ``Agencies'') responsible for 
implementing Title V, Subtitle A of the GLB Act, to ``jointly develop a 
model form which may be used, at the option of the financial 
institution, for the provision of disclosures under this section.'' \4\ 
The proposed amendments would, if adopted, create a safe harbor for a 
model privacy notice form that financial institutions may use to 
provide disclosures required under the privacy rules \5\ adopted by the 
Agencies pursuant to section 504 of the GLB Act.\6\
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    \1\ See Interagency Proposal for Model Privacy Form Under the 
Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, Securities Exchange Act Release No. 55497, 
Investment Company Act Release No. 27755 (Mar. 20, 2007) [72 FR 
14940 (Mar. 29, 2007)] (``Interagency Proposal'') and [72 FR 16875 
(Apr. 5, 2007)] (correction notice).
    \2\ Public Law 109-351 (Oct. 13, 2006), 120 Stat. 1966.
    \3\ The seven other agencies are the: Commodity Futures Trading 
Commission (``CFTC''), Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation 
(``FDIC''), Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System 
(``Board''), Federal Trade Commission (``FTC''), National Credit 
Union Administration (``NCUA''), Office of the Comptroller of the 
Currency (``OCC''), and Office of Thrift Supervision (``OTS'').
    \4\ See supra note 2, adding 15 U.S.C. 6803(e). The Act 
stipulates that the model form shall be a safe harbor for financial 
institutions that elect to use it.
    \5\ For the Agencies' privacy rules see 12 CFR Part 40 (OCC); 12 
CFR Part 216 (Board); 12 CFR Part 332 (FDIC); 12 CFR Part 573 (OTS); 
12 CFR Part 716 (NCUA); 16 CFR Part 313 (FTC); 17 CFR part 160 
(CFTC); 17 CFR Part 248 (Commission).
    \6\ Codified at 15 U.S.C. 6804.
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    In connection with the development of the model form, an outside 
consultant, Macro International (``Macro'') was retained to conduct 
quantitative testing to evaluate the effectiveness of four different 
types of privacy notices, including a slightly revised version of the 
proposed model privacy notice form.\7\ Macro tested the notices on 
approximately 1,000 consumers at five retail shopping mall locations 
around the country. Each of the four notices used for testing was 
printed in a double-sided format, using the front and back sides of an 
8\1/2\ x 11-inch piece of white paper. We have placed in the comment 
file for the proposed rule (available at http://www.sec.gov/comments/s7-09-07/s70907.shtml and at http://www.ftc.gov/privacy/privacyinitiatives/financial_rule_inrp.html) the following documents 
from the testing: (i) The test data collected and provided by Macro 
together with the codebook that relates to the data; (ii) the report 
provided by Macro, which includes a summary of the methodology used in 
collecting the data, the interview protocol, and the four test notices; 
and (iii) a report describing the results of the test data prepared by 
Dr. Alan Levy and Dr. Manoj Hastak.\8\
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    \7\ As described in the Interagency Proposal, the consumer 
research project on privacy notices was launched in 2004. 
Interagency Proposal supra note 1, at Section I.B.
    \8\ Dr. Levy and Dr. Hastak are consultants to the model privacy 
notice research project.
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    We are reopening the comment period before final action is taken on 
the proposal in order to provide all persons who are interested in this 
matter an opportunity to comment on these

[[Page 17926]]

additional quantitative testing documents. Accordingly, we are 
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reopening the comment period until May 20, 2009.

    Dated: April 15, 2009.

    By the Commission.
Elizabeth M. Murphy,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. E9-8977 Filed 4-17-09; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8010-01-P