Remember my now-classic post about all the “little-noticed” provisions in Obamacare, “Little-Noticed” is the New “Unexpected”?
Well, “little-noticed” is back, this time with regard to the equally massive text of the financial regulation overhaul, SEC Says New FinReg Law Exempts It From Public Disclosure (emphasis mine):
So much for transparency.
Under a little-noticed provision of the recently passed financial-reform legislation, the Securities and Exchange Commission no longer has to comply with virtually all requests for information releases from the public, including those filed under the Freedom of Information Act.
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.
Although I didn’t notice this provision (or else it would not have been “little-noticed”), I did call the legislation out as just another “impenetrable behemoth.”
Time to re-open the cataloging process. Any other “little-noticed” provisions?
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