SEC now exempt from FOI requests

Dunstan Prial of Fox Business Network writes that the Securities and Exchange Commission is now exempt from public requests for information, including Freedom of Information Requests, as part of the financial regulation overhaul.

Prial writes, “The law, signed last week by President Obama, exempts the SEC from disclosing records or information derived from ‘surveillance, risk assessments, or other regulatory and oversight activities.’ Given that the SEC is a regulatory body, the provision covers almost every action by the agency, lawyers say. Congress and federal agencies can request information, but the public cannot.

“That argument comes despite the President saying that one of the cornerstones of the sweeping new legislation was more transparent financial markets. Indeed, in touting the new law, Obama specifically said it would ‘increase transparency in financial dealings.’

“The SEC cited the new law Tuesday in a FOIA action brought by FOX Business Network. Steven Mintz, founding partner of law firm Mintz & Gold LLC in New York, lamented what he described as ‘the backroom deal that was cut between Congress and the SEC to keep the  SEC’s failures secret. The only losers here are the American public.'”

Read more here. Obviously, business journalists would also be impacted.