2012 Connecticut General Statutes
Title 36a - The Banking Law of Connecticut
Chapter 664a - Administration and Enforcement
Section 36a-21 - (Formerly Sec. 36-16). Information to be confidential. Disclosure. Examination reports. Exemption.

(a) Notwithstanding any provision of state law and except as provided in subsections (b) and (d) of this section and subdivision (2) of subsection (a) of section 36a-534b, the following records of the Department of Banking shall not be disclosed by the commissioner or any employee of the Department of Banking, or be subject to public inspection or discovery:

(1) Examination and investigation reports and information contained in or derived from such reports, including examination reports prepared by the commissioner or prepared on behalf of or for the use of the commissioner;

(2) Confidential supervisory or investigative information obtained from a state, federal or foreign regulatory or law enforcement agency;

(3) Information obtained, collected or prepared in connection with examinations, inspections or investigations, and complaints from the public received by the Department of Banking, if such records are protected from disclosure under federal or state law or, in the opinion of the commissioner, such records would disclose, or would reasonably lead to the disclosure of: (A) Investigative information the disclosure of which would be prejudicial to such investigation, until such time as the investigation and all related administrative and legal actions are concluded; (B) personal or financial information, including account or loan information, without the written consent of the person or persons to whom the information pertains; or (C) information that would harm the reputation of any person or affect the safety and soundness of any person whose activities in this state are subject to the supervision of the commissioner, and the disclosure of such information under this subparagraph would not be in the public interest; and

(4) Information obtained, collected or prepared in connection with the organization of an expedited Connecticut bank prior to the issuance of a final certificate of authority to commence the business of a Connecticut bank pursuant to section 36a-70.

(b) The commissioner may, without waiving any privilege, disclose the records described in subsection (a) of this section for any appropriate supervisory, governmental, law enforcement or other public purpose. Any such disclosure shall be made under safeguards designed to prevent further dissemination of such records. In any proceeding before a court, the court may issue a protective order in appropriate circumstances to protect the confidentiality of any such record and order that any such record on file with the court or filed in connection with the court proceeding be sealed and that the public be excluded from any portion of the proceeding at which any such record is disclosed.

(c) No director, officer, employee or agent of any Connecticut bank or Connecticut credit union shall disclose without the prior written consent of the commissioner any information contained in an examination report about such bank or credit union, which information is not otherwise a matter of public record.

(d) (1) The provisions of subsections (a) and (b) of this section shall not apply to the disclosure of any record provided to or maintained by the commissioner with the system. Except as otherwise provided in Section 1512 of the federal S.A.F.E. Mortgage Licensing Act of 2008, any requirements under federal law or any law of this state, including this section and chapter 14 and any privilege arising under federal law or any law of this state, including the rules of any federal court or court of this state that protect the disclosure of any record provided to or maintained with the system, shall continue to apply to such record after it has been disclosed to the system. Such record may be shared with all state and federal regulatory officials that have oversight authority over the mortgage industry without the loss of privilege or the loss of confidentiality protections provided by federal law or the laws of this state. For purposes of this subsection, the commissioner may enter into agreements or sharing arrangements with other governmental agencies, the Conference of State Bank Supervisors, the American Association of Residential Mortgage Regulators or associations representing governmental agencies.

(2) Any information or material that is protected from disclosure under subdivision (1) of this subsection shall not be subject to (A) disclosure under any federal or state law governing disclosure to the public of information held by an officer or agency of the federal government or the respective state; or (B) subpoena, discovery or admission into evidence in any private civil action or administrative process, except a person may, at such person’s discretion, waive in whole or in part a privilege held by the system concerning such information and material.

(3) Any law of this state relating to the disclosure of confidential supervisory information or of any information or material described in subdivision (1) of this subsection that is inconsistent with subdivision (1) shall be superseded by the requirements of this subsection.

(e) The confidentiality provisions of this section shall not apply to records relating to the employment history of, and publicly adjudicated disciplinary and enforcement actions against, mortgage loan originators or loan processors or underwriters that are included in the system for access by the public.

(f) For purposes of this section, “system” has the same meaning as provided in section 36a-485.

(1949 Rev., S. 5739; P.A. 77-614, S. 161, 610; P.A. 80-482, S. 239, 345, 348; P.A. 84-71, S. 1, 2; P.A. 87-9, S. 2, 3; P.A. 94-122, S. 14, 340; P.A. 00-123; P.A. 07-156, S. 3; P.A. 08-176, S. 31, 35; P.A. 09-100, S. 3; 09-209, S. 1; P.A. 11-216, S. 2.)

History: P.A. 77-614 replaced bank commissioner with banking commissioner and made banking department a division within the department of business regulation, effective January 1, 1979; P.A. 80-482 restored banking division as an independent department with commissioner as its head and abolished the department of business regulation; P.A. 84-71 added Subsec. (b) requiring confidentiality for examination, operating or condition reports of financial institutions prepared by or for the use of the commissioner; (Revisor’s note: Pursuant to P.A. 87-9 “banking department” was changed editorially by the Revisors to “department of banking”); P.A. 94-122 made technical changes, effective January 1, 1995; Sec. 36-16 transferred to Sec. 36a-21 in 1995; P.A. 00-123 deleted former Subsecs. (a) and (b), added new Subsec. (a) prohibiting disclosure of certain records, added new Subsec. (b) re disclosure of records and protective orders, and added new Subsec. (c) re disclosure of examination report information; P.A. 07-156 added Subsec. (d) re records maintained with and information obtained from national mortgage licensing system, effective September 30, 2008; P.A. 08-176 changed effective date of P.A. 07-156, S. 3, from September 30, 2008, to July 1, 2008, and amended Subsec. (d) to substitute “Nationwide Mortgage Licensing System” for “national mortgage licensing system”, effective July 1, 2008; P.A. 09-100 added Subsec. (a)(4) re organization of an expedited Connecticut bank; P.A. 09-209 amended Subsec. (d) by designating existing provisions as new Subdiv. (1), deleting former Subdivs. (1) and (2) re information maintained by commissioner with Nationwide Mortgage Licensing system, adding new Subdiv. (1) providing that records maintained by commissioner with the system may be protected from disclosure, and by adding new Subdivs. (2) and (3) re confidentiality of information disclosed to system, added Subsec. (e) re exemptions to confidentiality provisions and added Subsec. (f) defining “system”, effective July 31, 2009; P.A. 11-216 amended Subsec. (e) to add “loan processors or underwriters”.