By James Vicini and Mark Felsenthal
WASHINGTON, March 21 (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court let stand a ruling that the U.S. Federal Reserve must disclose details about its emergency lending programs to banks during the financial crisis in 2008, exposing an additional aspect of the institution's sometimes secretive practices to view.
The Fed's Board of Governors, which has fought efforts to pull back the veil from its lending, said it will abide by the determination.
'The Board will fully comply with the courts' decisions and is preparing to make the information available,' it said in a statement.
The Fed has been required under recently passed financial reform laws to divulge borrowing from special emergency programs it set up to stabilize financial markets during the economic meltdown. A December data release revealed that major banks had been big beneficiaries from some of those programs.
The Fed had strenuously resisted providing information about borrowers from its standard emergency lending facility, known as the discount window, arguing banks, fearing being stigmatized as weak, would be unwilling to use it if they feared their actions would became public.
A group representing major commercial banks had asked the high court to reverse a ruling by a federal appeals court in New York that required disclosure of the lending records.
The justices rejected the banks' appeals.
The Obama administration said the appeals should be denied. It said the financial overhaul law adopted last year set new standards on releasing information about emergency lending programs and the law required the disclosure in December of much of the data at issue in the cases.
Under that law, borrowing at the discount window must now be disclosed with a lag.
Bloomberg LP, the parent of Bloomberg News, and News Corp's Fox News Network had sought the bailout details under the federal freedom of information law, which requires government agencies make certain documents public.
The two news organizations opposed the appeals, telling the Supreme Court the appeals court decision was correct on the merits and that further delay in releasing the remaining records would be unwarranted under the law.
The appeals court ordered the disclosure of borrowers' names, loan amounts and loan dates for transactions at the Fed's discount window and from its emergency lending facilities.
The Clearing House Association, representing the largest commercial banks that hold more than half of all U.S. deposits, appealed to the Supreme Court, arguing that the emergency lending data should be kept secret.
It said the appeals court ruling threatened numerous federal programs that depend on keeping commercial transactions confidential and could unjustifiably harm the reputation of banks that borrowed from the Fed's discount window.
'We are disappointed that the court has declined our petitions, which deal with the protection of highly confidential bank information provided to the Federal Reserve,' the group said in a statement.
Clearing House members include Bank of America Corp, Bank of New York Mellon Corp, Citigroup Inc, JPMorgan Chase & Co, UBS AG and Wells Fargo & Co.
The Supreme Court declined to hear the appeals without comment. When the Supreme Court refuses to hear an appeal, it does not represent a ruling on the merits of the dispute.
The Supreme Court cases are Clearing House Association v. Bloomberg, No. 10-543, and Clearing House Association v. Fox News Network, No. 10-660.
(Reporting by james Vicini; Editing by Gerald E. McCormick, John Wallace and Andrew Hay)
((jim.vicini@thomsonreuters.com; 202-898-8397; Reuters Messaging: jim.vicini.reuters.com@reuters.net)) Keywords: USA FED/BAILOUT COURT (Multimedia versions of Reuters Top News are now available for: * 3000 Xtra: visit http://topnews.session.rservices.com * BridgeStation: view story .134 For more information on Top News: http://topnews.reuters.com) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2011. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.
WASHINGTON, March 21 (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court let stand a ruling that the U.S. Federal Reserve must disclose details about its emergency lending programs to banks during the financial crisis in 2008, exposing an additional aspect of the institution's sometimes secretive practices to view.
The Fed's Board of Governors, which has fought efforts to pull back the veil from its lending, said it will abide by the determination.
'The Board will fully comply with the courts' decisions and is preparing to make the information available,' it said in a statement.
The Fed has been required under recently passed financial reform laws to divulge borrowing from special emergency programs it set up to stabilize financial markets during the economic meltdown. A December data release revealed that major banks had been big beneficiaries from some of those programs.
The Fed had strenuously resisted providing information about borrowers from its standard emergency lending facility, known as the discount window, arguing banks, fearing being stigmatized as weak, would be unwilling to use it if they feared their actions would became public.
A group representing major commercial banks had asked the high court to reverse a ruling by a federal appeals court in New York that required disclosure of the lending records.
The justices rejected the banks' appeals.
The Obama administration said the appeals should be denied. It said the financial overhaul law adopted last year set new standards on releasing information about emergency lending programs and the law required the disclosure in December of much of the data at issue in the cases.
Under that law, borrowing at the discount window must now be disclosed with a lag.
Bloomberg LP, the parent of Bloomberg News, and News Corp's Fox News Network had sought the bailout details under the federal freedom of information law, which requires government agencies make certain documents public.
The two news organizations opposed the appeals, telling the Supreme Court the appeals court decision was correct on the merits and that further delay in releasing the remaining records would be unwarranted under the law.
The appeals court ordered the disclosure of borrowers' names, loan amounts and loan dates for transactions at the Fed's discount window and from its emergency lending facilities.
The Clearing House Association, representing the largest commercial banks that hold more than half of all U.S. deposits, appealed to the Supreme Court, arguing that the emergency lending data should be kept secret.
It said the appeals court ruling threatened numerous federal programs that depend on keeping commercial transactions confidential and could unjustifiably harm the reputation of banks that borrowed from the Fed's discount window.
'We are disappointed that the court has declined our petitions, which deal with the protection of highly confidential bank information provided to the Federal Reserve,' the group said in a statement.
Clearing House members include Bank of America Corp, Bank of New York Mellon Corp, Citigroup Inc, JPMorgan Chase & Co, UBS AG and Wells Fargo & Co.
The Supreme Court declined to hear the appeals without comment. When the Supreme Court refuses to hear an appeal, it does not represent a ruling on the merits of the dispute.
The Supreme Court cases are Clearing House Association v. Bloomberg, No. 10-543, and Clearing House Association v. Fox News Network, No. 10-660.
(Reporting by james Vicini; Editing by Gerald E. McCormick, John Wallace and Andrew Hay)
((jim.vicini@thomsonreuters.com; 202-898-8397; Reuters Messaging: jim.vicini.reuters.com@reuters.net)) Keywords: USA FED/BAILOUT COURT (Multimedia versions of Reuters Top News are now available for: * 3000 Xtra: visit http://topnews.session.rservices.com * BridgeStation: view story .134 For more information on Top News: http://topnews.reuters.com) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2011. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.