Reports of examinations of banks or associations made by Farm Credit examiners or Federal intermediate credit bank officials and other personnel who have been authorized by the Governor to make credit examinations may be disclosed only with the consent of the Chief Examiner of the Farm Credit Administration. Consent is given for disclosing reports of regular examinations to the banks and associations involved or interested, but such disclosure of reports of special examinations shall be only by action or consent of the Chief Examiner in each instance. Consent is also given for disclosing reports of regular examnations to authorized representatives of Farm Credit Administration and, when requested for confidential use in official investigations of matters touched upon therein, to agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Department of Justice; the Assistant Postmaster General, Inspection Service, U.S. Postal Service; the Secret Service; the Internal Revenue Service; Office of the Inspector General, Department of Agriculture; and the General Accounting Office.

§ 602.210 Lists of borrowers.

The relationship between borrowers and the banks and associations in the cooperative Farm Credit System is confidential, and therefore no one employed by Farm Credit Administration shall release a list of borrowers from a Farm Credit bank or association except as provided in § 618.8310 of this chapter unless such release is approved by the Governor or deputy governor.

§ 602.215 Data regarding borrowers and loan applicants.

Because the relationship between borrowers and the banks and associations in the cooperative Farm Credit System is confidential, Farm Credit Administration personnel shall hold in strict confidence all information regarding character, credit standing, and property of borrowers and applicants for loans. They shall not exhibit or quote the following documents: loan applications; letters and statements relative to the character, credit standing, and property of borrowers and applicants; recommendations of loan committees; and reports of in

spectors, fieldmen, investigators, and appraisers except as authorized by § 618.8320 of this chapter. This section is subject to the following further exceptions:

(a) Examiners and other accredited representatives of Farm Credit Administration shall have free access to all information, records, and files.

(b) Accredited representatives of the offices named in § 602.205 may, at their request, be given information pertinent to their official investigations of individual cases, and may examine such portions of the records and files as contain the information.

(c) Information concerning borrowers may be given for the confidential use of any Farm Credit institution, or any Government agency, in contemplation of the extension of agricultural credit or the collection of loans.

(d) Credit information concerning any borrower may be given when such borrower consents thereto in writing.

(e) In litigation between a borrower (or his successor in interest) and the United States or a bank or association, any competent evidence may be introduced with respect to any relevant statements made orally or in writing by or to the borrower or his successor.

§ 602.220 Waiver of restrictions.

If it appears that justice would be served by releasing information in circumstances forbidden by § 602.215, the restrictions of that section may be waived as to a particular case by the Governor or deputy governor. A recommendation for such waiver may be submitted by any bank, association, or office concerned. Any such recommendation from a Federal land bank association or a production credit association shall be submitted through the appropriate Federal land bank or Federal intermediate credit bank, with the request that it be considered and forwarded to the Farm Credit Administration, if deemed advisable. Each such recommendation shall be supported by a statement of facts and approved by counsel for the forwarding bank. The recommendation should be addressed to the General Counsel, Farm Credit Administration.

§ 602.225 Officer or employee summoned as a witness.

If an officer or employee is summoned as a witness in litigation to which neither the Government nor any Farm Credit

institution is a party for the purpose of testifying and/or producing documentary evidence with respect to matters which he is forbidden by these regulations in this Part to disclose, he shall arrange, if possible, with the attorney who obtained the summons, to be excused from testifying. If not excused, he shall appear in response to the summons but, before testifying or producing documentary evidence as to confidential information, he shall advise the court of these regulations against disclosing such information and request that its confidential nature be safeguarded. After so doing, he may then testify or produce documentary evidence as to such information only to the extent and under the conditions directed by the court.

§ 602.230 Request for advice.

Upon receiving any such summons, the officer or employee may request advice and assistance from the General Counsel of Farm Credit Administration or the district general counsel (or other designated attorney).

§ 602.235 Information regarding personnel.

List of employees shall not be released by an office of the Farm Credit Administration without the approval of the Governor or a Deputy Governor. This section is subject to the following exceptions:

(a) Taxing authorities shall be supplied, on request, with the names, addresses, and compensation of officers and employees of Farm Credit Administration. Field offices receiving any such requests shall forward them to the Accounting, Budget and Data Management Division.

(b) The Farm Credit Administration may release employees' names, addresses, positions and spouses' names to reputable concerns for listing in local directories only. Employees wishing to do so shall be allowed to withhold their names.

§ 602.240 Authority reserved to release

information.

The provisions of §§ 602.200-602.235 shall not operate to limit or restrict the discretionary authority of the Governor or any Deputy Governor to release, or authorize the release of, information by or pertaining to the Farm Credit Administration or any bank or association of the Farm Credit System.

§ 602.245 Official records generally.

The Farm Credit Administration and the several banks and associations under its supervision keep confidential the classes of records enumerated in §§ 602.205, 602.210, 602.215, 602.235. Such records and other official records in the custody of the Farm Credit Administration may be made available to the extent provided in §§ 602.250-602.265. Information contained in other official records in the custody of a particular bank or association of the Farm Credit System may be made available to persons directly and properly concerned in accordance with §§ 608.8300 and 608.8350 of this chapter.

Subpart B-Availability of Records of the Farm Credit Administration Official records of the Farm Credit Administration.

§ 602.250

Upon request, identified records of the Farm Credit Administration shall be made available for public inspection and copying, except exempt records which include the following:

(a) Records specifically required by Executive order to be secret;

(b) Records related solely to the internal personnel rules and practices of the Farm Credit Administration, including matters which are for the guidance of agency personnel;

(c) Records which are specifically exempted from disclosure by statute;

(d) Commercial or financial information obtained from any person or organization and privileged or confidential;

(e) Interagency or intra-agency memorandums or letters which would not be available by law to a private party in litigation in which the United States, as real party in interest on behalf of the Farm Credit Administration, is a party, or from a bank or association supervised by the Farm Credit Administration to a private party in litigation with such bank or association if such memorandums or letters are records of such bank or association;

(f) Personnel and similar files, the disclosure of which would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy;

(g) Investigatory files compiled for law enforcement purposes, except to the extent available by law to a private party;

(h) Records of or related to examination, operating, or condition reports (other than published condition reports)

of or related to the banks and associations under the supervision of the Farm Credit Administration which are prepared by, on behalf of, or for its use. § 602.255 Identification of records requested.

A member of the public who requests records from the Farm Credit Administration shall provide a reasonably specific description of the records sought so that such records may be located without undue search or inquiry. A record that is not identified by a reasonably specific description is not an identified record, and the request therefor may be declined. § 602.260 Request for records.

Requests for identified records should be directed to the Director of Information, Farm Credit Administration, Washington, D.C. 20578. Copies of such records may be obtained in person or by mail. Records will be available for inspection or copying during business hours on a regular business day at the offices of the Farm Credit Administration which are located in Suite 6100, 485 L'Enfant Plaza West SW., Washington, D.C. 20578. § 602.265 Service charge.

(a) The Farm Credit Administration furnishes a member of the public free of charge a reasonable quantity of information that has been printed or otherwise reproduced for the purpose of making it available to the public without charge.

(b) The Farm Credit Administration furnishes a member of the public free of charge information that is requested and is not exempt from disclosure when the information is readily available and can be furnished by the Farm Credit Administration without charge.

(c) When a request for information which may not be furnished under paragraphs (a) and (b) of this section is received, the Farm Credit Administration furnishes a copy of it at a fair and equitable fee when it is available to the public. In determining such fair and equitable fee, the Farm Credit Administration ascertains all costs necessary to recover the full cost to the Governnient including but not limited to, cost of employee service relating to research, reproduction assembly, and authentication. The fee will be based on these costs and information under this paragraph will not be furnished until such fee is paid or arrangements for payment are made.

Sec.

PART 611-ORGANIZATION

Subpart A-Introduction

Subpart B-Policy

Subpart C-The Farm Credit Administration

Subpart D.-The Farm Credit System Subpart E-Farm Credit Districts Subpart F-General Rules for the Districts

611.1130

Liquidation of associations. 611.1140 Impairment of stockholder or patron equities: Insolvency-banks and associations.

AUTHORITY: The provisions of this Part 611 issued under secs. 5.9, 5.18, 5.26, 85 Stat. 619, 621, 624; 12 U.S.C. 2243, 2252, 2001 nt.

SOURCE: The provisions of this Part 611 appear at 37 F.R. 11415, June 7, 1972, unless otherwise noted.

Subpart A-Introduction

The Farm Credit Act of 1971, Public Law 92-181, approved December 10, 1971, is a complete recodification and replacement for prior laws under which the Farm Credit Administration and the institutions of the Farm Credit System were organized and operated. Prior laws which are repealed and superseded by the Act are identified in section 5.26(a) thereof. Section 5.26 (b) retained the effectiveness of the existing regulations of the Farm Credit Administration and the Farm Credit System, the institutions' charters, bylaws, resolutions, stock classifications, policy, and elections until superseded, modified, or replaced under the authority of the 1971 Act. All obligations and contracts under prior laws re

main enforceable unless and until modified in accordance with the 1971 Act. It is, therefore, the purpose of these regulations to supersede regulations of the Farm Credit Administration issued under prior authority and to implement, as of the date of approval of these regulations, the provisions of the 1971 Act. Contracts, including but not limited to notes, bonds, debentures, loans, security, collateral, entered into by the Farm Credit Administration or any of the institutions of the System before the issuance of these regulations shall remain valid and enforceable upon their terms unless and until they are subsequently modified.

Subpart B-Policy

In recognition, as a national policy, that a prosperous, productive agricultural economy requires an increasing input of credit resources through a permanent financing system designed to furnish sound, adequate, and constructive credit to farmers and ranchers and their cooperatives, the Congress initially authorized in prior law and continued under the 1971 Act a System of limited purpose, farmer-owned, banks and associations to help meet their credit needs.

The System is designed for farmer and rancher borrowers' ownership, management, and control which will be responsive to the credit needs of all types of agricultural producers and their cooperatives having a basis for credit to be furnished through the System in ways which will more adequately meet current and future complex credit requirements. For purposes of these regulations, agricultural producers are identified as individual farmers and other legal entities engaged in farming or whose owners would be granted credit if they were individual applicants. The System should also serve the farm and family needs of the part-time farmer but qualification as a farmer should not entitle such members to unlimited financing for other purposes. Additional authorization has been provided for financing non-farm rural housing, producers or harvesters of aquatic products, and selected farmrelated businesses furnishing on-farm services.

The primary objective of the System is to help improve the income and wellbeing of farmers and ranchers. Because the System was so well conceived, it has

served a large part of the agricultural credit needs of the country. It can be of greater service now with the removal of many statutory limitations. With wider latitude for action comes greater responsibility for management and policy determinations. These regulations identify areas in which Systemwide policy and district policy for the guidance of management and operations of the banks and associations are necessary to assure the accomplishment of these objectives.

This wider latitude of service and added functions accentuate the impact of the System on the agricultural economy, on other elements of the Nation's total business community, and on the public generally. Consequently, as is true with other types of financing institutions, the public interest will be protected under rules dealing with supervision, examination, audit, lending and funding operations of the System.

Subpart C-The Farm Credit
Administration

The Farm Credit Administration is composed of the Federal Farm Credit Board and the Governor of the Farm Credit Administration, hereinafter called the Governor, appointed by the Board, and other employees of the Administration. The Board is composed of not more than 13 members, one of whom is designated by the Secretary of Agriculture and the remainder appointed by the President, with the advice and consent of the Senate.

The qualifications, terms, manner of nomination, appointment, and compensation of Board members are provided in section 5.8 of the Act and the procedural rules for nomination are prescribed in § 618.8150 of this chapter.

The Board establishes the general policy for the guidance of the Farm Credit Administration and approves necessary rules and regulations for the implementation of the Act as specified in section 5.9.

Subpart D-The Farm Credit System

The Farm Credit System includes the Federal land banks, the Federal land bank associations, the Federal intermediate credit banks, the production credit associations, and the banks for cooperatives. Each of these institutions is an instrumentality of the United States for carrying out the congressional policy and objective. Each is chartered by the

Subpart F-General Rules for the Districts

§ 611.1000 Organization - district boards of directors.

(a) Each Farm Credit district shall have a district board of directors composed of seven members, six of whom are elected and one appointed, as provided in section 5.2 of the Act. Important limitations on the eligibility for membership on the district board are specified in section 5.1 of the Act. The district board may adopt additiona' eligibility requirements, such as an age limitation or s number of successive terms for which a director will be eligible to serve. The terms of the elected and appointed district directors are specified in section 5.1(c) of the Act. The nomination and election of district directors is provided for in section 5.2 of the Act, and procedural rules are prescribed in § 618.8160 of this chapter. The members of each