AMERICAN BANKERS
ASSOCIATION (2nd)
July 23, 2004
Federal Trade Commission
Office of the Secretary
Room 159H (Annex H)
600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20580
Re: The FACT Act Disposal Rule, R-411007, FTC RIN 3084-AA94; 69
Federal
Register 21388 (April 20, 2004) supplemented 69 Federal Register 41219
(July 8,
2004)
Dear Sir or Madam:
The American Bankers Association (ABA) transmits the following
comments
on the Federal Trade Commissions (FTC) proposal to implement
section 216
of the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act of 2003 (the FACT
Act) by
issuing a rule regarding the proper disposal of consumer report
information and
records. The FTC supplemental publication is particularly interested
in the impact
on smaller entities.
The ABA brings together all elements of the banking community to
represent the
interests of this rapidly changing industry. Its membership which
includes
community, regional, and money center banks and holding companies, as
well as
savings associations, trust companies, and savings banks makes ABA
the largest
banking trade association in the country. Especially relevant to the
FTCs
supplemental solicitation for comment is the fact that ABAs
membership
includes more than two thousand banks or savings associations with
less than
$100 million in assetsover half of which have fewer than 20
employees.
As noted in its proposal, the FTC is required to coordinate its
regulation of
consumer information disclosure with the Federal banking agencies and
to adopt
consistent and comparable rules regarding such disposal. Accordingly,
the ABA
attaches for the FTCs consideration in finalizing its FACT Act
Disposal Rule the
Associations comments on the interagency disposal rule published by
the Federal
banking agencies.
As the FTC observed in the summary of its proposed rule, the
flexible standard
for disposal allows covered persons to make decisions appropriate to
their
particular circumstances and should minimize the disruption of
existing practices
to the extent they already provide appropriate protections for
consumers. This
approach is also intended to minimize the burden of compliance for
smaller
entities
[and]
harmonize the Disposal Rule with the Commissions
Safeguards Rule
implementing section 501(b) of GLBA. ABA believes
that
this policy predicate combined with the obligation to coordinate with
other
regulators leads to the conclusion that all entities that are subject
to the
Interagency Guidelines Establishing Standards for Safeguarding
Customer
Information (Interagency Guidelines) under the Federal banking
agency
regulations implementing section 216 of the FACT Act should be exempt
from
the FTCs FACT Act Disposal Rule.
Elimination of overlapping regulatory requirements reduces undue
burden without
diminishing the obligation for companies to properly dispose of
consumer credit
information. It is especially important for small banks and small
savings
associations to be relieved of redundant, unnecessary monitoring
responsibilities
which only waste scarce and overworked compliance resources while
providing
no additional benefit to their consumers or local communities. Every
one of these
small institutionsand any operating subsidiary or affiliate they
create to fulfill
their charter obligationsare already subject to an examination
process far more
rigorous and comprehensive than any oversight the FTC can bring to
bear.
Indeed, all federally insured depository institutions and their
subsidiaries are
subject to extensive periodic compliance examination. Accordingly, ABA
strongly urges the FTC, pursuant to section 628(a)(3) of FCRA as
amended, to
exempt from operation of the FTC FACT Act Disposal Rule all persons
who are
within the jurisdiction, scope or operation of the proposed revisions
to the
Interagency Guidelines applied by the Federal banking agencies.
Respectfully submitted,
Richard R. Riese
Senior Compliance Counsel
American Bankers Association
1120 Connecticut Ave., NW
Washington, DC 20036
CC w/ Attachment:
Jennifer J. Johnson, Secretary
Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve
System
20th Street and Constitution Avenue, N.W.
Washington, DC 20551
FACT Act Disposal Rule R-1199
Office of the Comptroller of the Currency
250 E Street, S.W.
Public Reference Room, Mail Stop 15
Washington, DC 20219
FACTA Act Disposal Rule RIN 1557-AC84
Robert E. Feldman, Executive Secretary
Attention: Comments
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
550 17th Street, N.W.
Washington, DC 20429
FACT Act Disposal Rule RIN 3064-AC77
Regulation Comments
Chief Counsels Office
Office of Thrift Supervision
1700 G Street, N.W.
Washington, DC 20552
Attention No. 2004-26
FACT Act Disposal Rule RIN 1550-AB87
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