Federal Reserve to release documents to biz media on Thursday

The Federal Reserve Bank is set to release Thursday information about what banks borrowed money, and how much, during the height of the financial crisis in 2008, reports Dunstan Prial of Fox Business Network.

Bloomberg News and Fox Business sued for the release of the documents.

Prial writes, “But Fox Business and Bloomberg News argued in lawsuits that the public had a right to know where the money went and how much was borrowed.

“‘It’s been a long time coming. I am very pleased that the American public will finally be able to learn who borrowed money from the Fed discount window during the financial crisis,’ said attorney Steven G. Mintz, who has argued several FOIA cases on behalf of Fox Business.

“An earlier ruling in favor of Fox Business was appealed by a trade group called the Clearing House Association which represents some of the biggest U.S. banks.

“The CHA argued in its court filing that the Fed has never revealed the identities of borrowers from its discount window, the lending facility where banks get short-term funding and the source of the 2008 emergency loans.”