(a) The term "obligations" means Government securities, U.S. agency securities, bankers' acceptances, bills of exchange, cable transfers, bonds, notes, warrants, debentures, and other obligations that Federal Reserve banks are authorized by law to purchase and sell.

(b) The term "Government securities" means direct obligations of the United States (i.e., U.S. bonds, notes, certificates of indebtedness, and Treasury bills) and obligations fully guaranteed as to principal and interest by the United States.

(c) The term "U.S. agency securities" means obligations that are direct obligations of, or are fully guaranteed as to principal and interest by, any agency of the United States.

(d) The term "System Open Market Account" means the obligations acquired pursuant to authorizations and directives issued by the Committee and held on behalf of all Federal Reserve banks.

§ 270.3 Governing principles.

As required by section 12A of the Federal Reserve Act, the time, character, and volume of all purchases and sales of obligations in the open market by Federal Reserve banks are governed with a view to accommodating commerce and business and with regard to their bearing upon the general credit situation of the country.

§ 270.4 Transactions in obligations.

(a) Each Federal Reserve bank shall engage in open market operations under section 14 of the Federal Reserve Act only in accordance with this part and with the authorizations and directives issued by the Committee from time to time, and no Reserve bank shall decline to engage in open market operations as directed by the Committee.

(b) Transactions for the System Open Market Account shall be executed by a Federal Reserve bank selected by the Committee. The participations of the several Federal Reserve banks in such account and in the profits and losses on transactions for the account shall be allocated in accordance with principles determined by the Committee from time to time.

(c) In accordance with such limitations, terms, and conditions as are prescribed by law and in authorizations and directives issued by the Committee, the Reserve bank selected by the Committee is authorized and directed

(1) To buy and sell Government securities and U.S. agency securities in the open market for the System Open Market Account, and to exchange maturing securities with the issuer;

(2) To buy and sell banker's acceptances in the open market for its own account;

(3) To buy Government securities, U.S. agency securities, and banker's acceptances of the kinds described above, under agreements for repurchase of such obligations, in the open market for its own account; and

(4) To buy and sell foreign currenIcies in the form of cable transfers in

e open market for the System Open rket Account and to maintain for ch account reciprocal currency arngements with foreign banks among ose designated by the Board of Govors of the Federal Reserve System der § 214.5 of this chapter (Regulan N).

d) The Federal Reserve banks are chorized and directed to engage in ch other operations as the Commitmay from time to time determine be reasonably necessary to the eftive conduct of open market operons and the effectuation of open rket policies.

FR 2753, Jan. 30, 1973, as amended at 39 11873, Apr. 1, 1974; 48 FR 32336, July 1983]

Board, or any Federal Reserve bank, in the performance of duties for, or pursuant to the direction of, the Committee.

(b) "Records of the Committee". For purposes of this part, the term "records of the Committee" means rules, statements, opinions, orders, memoranda, letters, reports, accounts, and other papers containing information of the Committee that constitute a part of the Committee's official files. [32 FR 9518, July 1, 1967, as amended at 38 FR 2754, Jan. 30, 1973]

§ 271.3 Published information.

(a) Federal Register. To the extent required by sections 552 and 553 of Title 5 of the United States Code, and subject to the provisions of §§ 271.5 and 271.6, the Committee publishes in the FEDERAL REGISTER, in addition to this part,

(1) A description of its organization; (2) Statements of the general course and method by which its functions are channeled and determined;

(3) Rules of procedure;

(4) Substantive rules of general applicability, and statements of general policy and interpretations of general applicability formulated and adopted by the Committee;

(5) Every amendment, revision, or repeal of the foregoing; and

(6) General notices of proposed rule making.

(b) Policy record. In accordance with section 10 of the Federal Reserve Act (12 U.S.C. 247a), each annual report made to Congress by the Board includes a complete record of the actions taken by the Committee during the preceding year upon all matters of policy relating to open market operations, showing the votes taken and the reasons underlying such actions.

(c) Other published information. From time to time, other information relating to open market operations of the Federal Reserve Banks is published in the Federal Reserve Bulletin, issued monthly by the Board, in such Board's annual report to Congress, and in announcements and statements released to the press. Copies of issues of the Bulletin and of annual reports

of the Board may be obtained upon request.

[32 FR 9518, July 1, 1967, as amended at 38 FR 2754, Jan. 30, 1973]

§ 271.4 Records available to the public on request.

(a) Records available. Records of the Committee are made available to any person, upon request, for inspection or copying in accordance with the provisions of this section and subject to the limitations stated in §§ 271.5 and 271.6. Records falling within the exemptions from disclosure set forth in section 552(b) of Title 5 of the United States Code and in § 271.6 may nevertheless be made available in accordance with this section to the fullest extent consistent, in the Committee's judgment, with the effective performance of the Committee's statutory responsibilities and with the avoidance of injury to a public or private interest intended to be protected by such exemptions.

(b) Place and time. In general, the records of the Committee are held in the custody of the Board, but certain of such records, or copies thereof, are held in the custody of one or more of the Federal Reserve Banks. Any such records subject to this section will be made available for inspection or copying during regular business hours at the offices of the Board in the Federal Reserve Building, 20th and Constitution Avenue, Washington, D.C. 20551, or, in certain instances as provided in paragraph (c) of this section, at the offices of one or more designated Federal Reserve Banks.

(c) Obtaining access to records. Any person requesting access to records of the Committee shall submit such request in writing to the Secretary of the Committee. In any case in which the records requested, or copies thereof, are available at a Federal Reserve Bank, the Secretary of the Committee may so advise the person requesting access to the records. Every request for access to records of the Committee shall state the full name and address of the person requesting them and shall describe such records in a manner reasonably sufficient to permit their identification without undue difficulty. The Secretary of the Committee shall determine within ten

working days after receipt of a request for access to records of the Committee whether to comply with such request; and he shall immediately notify the requesting party of his decision, of the reasons therefor, and of the right of the requesting party to appeal to the Committee any refusal to make available the requested records of the Committee.

(d) Appeal of denial of access to records of the Committee. Any person who is denied access to the records of the Committee, properly requested in accordance with paragraph (c) of this section, may file, with the Secretary of the Committee, within ten days of notification of such denial, a written request for review of such denial. The Committee, or such member or members of the Committee may designate (pursuant to § 272.4(c) of its Rules of Procedure) shall make a determination with respect to any such appeal within 20 working days of its receipt, and shall immediately notify the appealing party of the decision on the appeal and of the right to seek court review of any decision which upholds, in whole or in part, the refusal of the Secretary of the Committee to make available the requested records.

(e) Extension of time requirements in unusual circumstances. In unusual circumstances as provided in 5 U.S.C. 552(a)(6)(b), the time limitation imposed upon the Secretary of the Committee or the Committee or its designated representative(s) in paragraphs (c) and (d) of this section may be extended by written notice to the requesting party for a period of time not to exceed a total of ten working days. (f) Fee schedule. A person requesting access to or copies of particular records shall pay the costs of searching and copying such records at the rate of $10 per hour for searching and 10 cents per standard page for copying. With respect to information obtainable only by processing through a computer or other information systems program, a person requesting such information shall pay a fee not to exceed the direct and reasonable cost of retrieval and production of the information requested. Detailed schedules of such charges are available upon request from the Secretary of

the Committee. Documents may be furnished without charge or at a reiuced charge where the Secretary of the Committee or such person as he may designate determines that waiver or reduction of the fee is in the public interest because furnishing the information can be considered as primarily benefiting the general public, or where total charges are less than $2.

[32 FR 9518, July 1, 1967, as amended at 38 FR 2754, Jan. 30, 1973; 40 FR 7897, Feb. 24, 1975]

§ 271.5 Deferment of availability of certain information.

(a) Deferred availability of information. In some instances, certain types of information of the Committee are not published in the FEDERAL REGISTER or made available for public inspection or copying until after such period of time as the Committee may determine to be reasonably necessary to avoid the effects described in paragraph (b) of this section or as may otherwise be necessary to prevent impairment of the effective discharge of the Committee's statutory responsibilities.

(b) Reasons for deferment of availability. Publication of, or access to, certain information of the Committee may be deferred because earlier disclosure of such information would:

(1) Interfere with the orderly execution of policies adopted by the Committee in the performance of its statutory functions;

(2) Permit speculators and others to gain unfair profits or to obtain unfair advantages by speculative trading in securities, foreign exchange, or otherwise;

(3) Result in unnecessary or unwarranted disturbances in the securities market;

(4) Make open market operations more costly;

(5) Interfere with the orderly execution of the objectives or policies of other Government agencies concerned with domestic or foreign economic or fiscal matters; or

(6) Interfere with, or impair the effectiveness of, financial transactions with foreign banks, bankers, or countries that may influence the flow of gold and of dollar balances to or from foreign countries.

[32 FR 9518, July 1, 1967, as amended at 40 FR 13204, Mar. 25, 1975; 41 FR 22261, June 2, 1976]

§ 271.6 Information not disclosed.

Except as may be authorized by the Committee, information of the Committee that is not available to the public through other sources will not be published or made available for inspection, examination, or copying by any person if such information:

(a) Is specifically exempted from disclosure by statute (other than section 552b of Title 5, United States Code), provided that such statute (1) requires that the matters be withheld from the public in such a manner as to leave no discretion on the issue, or (2) establishes particular criteria for withholding or refers to particular types of matters to be withheld; or is specifically authorized under criteria established by an executive order to be kept secret in the interests of national defense or foreign policy and is in fact properly classified pursuant to such executive order;

(b) Relates solely to internal personnel rules or practices or other internal practices of the Committee;

(c) Relates to trade secrets or commercial or financial information obtained from any person and privileged or confidential;

(d) Is contained in interagency or intraagency memoranda or letters, including records of deliberations and discussions at meetings of the ComImittee and reports and documents filed by members or staff of the Committee that would not be routinely available to a private party in litigation with the Committee;

(e) Is contained in personnel, medical, or similar files (including financial files) the disclosure of which would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy; or

(f) Is contained in or related to examination, operating, or condition reports prepared by, on behalf of, or for the use of any agency responsible for the regulation or supervision of financial institutions.

Except as provided by or pursuant to this part, no person shall disclose, or permit the disclosure of, any informa

tion of the Committee to any person, whether by giving out or furnishing such information or copy thereof, by allowing any person to inspect, examine, or reproduce such information or copy thereof, or by any other means, whether the information is located at the offices of the Board, any Federal Reserve bank, or elsewhere, unless such disclosure is required in the performance of duties for, or pursuant to the direction of, the Committee.

[32 FR 9518, July 1, 1967, as amended at 38 FR 2754, Jan. 30, 1973; 42 FR 13299, Mar. 10, 1977]

§ 271.7 Subpoenas.

(a) Advice by person served. If any person, whether or not an officer or employee of the Committee, of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, or of a Federal Reserve Bank, has information of the Committee that may not be disclosed by reason of § 271.5 or § 271.6 and in connection therewith is served with a subpoena, order, or other process requiring his personal attendance as a witness or the production of documents or information upon any proceeding, he should promptly inform the Secretary of the Committee of such service and of all relevant facts, including the documents and information requested and any facts that may be of assistance in determining whether such documents or information should be made available; and he should take action at the appropriate time to inform the court or tribunal that issued the process, and the attorney for the party at whose instance the process was issued, if known, of the substance of this part. (b) Appearance by person served. Except as disclosure of the relevant information is authorized pursuant to this part, any person who has information of the Committee and is required to respond to a subpoena or other legal process shall attend at the time and place therein mentioned and decline to disclose such information or give any testimony with respect thereto, basing his refusal upon this part. If, notwithstanding, the court or other body orders the disclosure of such information, or the giving of such testimony, the person having such information of the Committee shall contin

ue to decline to disclose such information and shall promptly report the facts to the Committee for such action as the Committee may deem appropriate.

[32 FR 9518, July 1, 1967, as amended at 38 FR 2754, Jan. 30, 1973]

PART 272-RULES OF PROCEDURE

Sec.

272.1 Authority.

272.2 Functions of the Committee. 272.3 Meetings.

272.4 Committee actions.

272.5 Notice and public procedure.

AUTHORITY: 5 U.S.C. 552.

SOURCE: 38 FR 2754, Jan. 30, 1973, unless otherwise noted.

§ 272.1 Authority.

This part is issued by the Federal Open Market Committee (the Committee) pursuant to the requirement of section 552 of title 5 of the United States Code that every agency shall publish in the FEDERAL REGISTER its rules of procedure.

§ 272.2

Functions of the Committee.

The procedures followed by the Committee are designed to facilitate the effective performance of the Committee's statutory functions with respect to the regulation and direction of open market operations conducted by the Federal Reserve banks and with respect to certain direct transactions between the Reserve banks and the United States. In determining the policies to be followed in such operations, the Committee considers information regarding business and credit conditions and domestic and international economic and financial developments, and other pertinent information gathered and submitted by its staff and the staffs of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (the Board) and the Federal Reserve banks. Against the background of such information, the Committee takes actions from time-to-time to regulate and direct the open market operations of the Reserve banks. Such policy actions ordinarily are taken through the adoption and transmission to the Federal Reserve banks of