McKinley v. Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System

647 F.3d 331, 396 U.S. App. D.C. 216, 2011 U.S. App. LEXIS 11357, 2011 WL 2162896
CourtCourt of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit
DecidedJune 3, 2011
Docket10-5353
StatusPublished
Cited by92 cases

This text of 647 F.3d 331 (McKinley v. Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
McKinley v. Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, 647 F.3d 331, 396 U.S. App. D.C. 216, 2011 U.S. App. LEXIS 11357, 2011 WL 2162896 (D.C. Cir. 2011).

Opinion

Opinion for the Court filed by Circuit Judge HENDERSON.

KAREN LeCRAFT HENDERSON, Circuit Judge:

In December 2008 Yern McKinley (McKinley) submitted a request pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. § 552, to the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (Board) seeking information related to the Board’s March 14, 2008 decision to authorize the Federal Reserve Bank of New York (FRBNY) to provide a temporary loan to The Bear Stearns Companies Inc. (Bear Stearns) through an extension of credit to JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JP Morgan). The Board produced documents in response to McKinley’s request but withheld others pursuant to FOIA Exemptions 4, 5, 6 and 8. McKinley filed suit in district court to compel disclosure of the withheld documents. He now appeals the district court’s entry of summary judgment in favor of the Board.

I.

We begin with a brief overview of the Federal Reserve System before describing the events surrounding the Board’s March 14, 2008 loan decision and McKinley’s FOIA request.

A. Overview of Federal Reserve System

The Congress created the Federal Reserve System in 1913 to serve as the nation’s central bank. It is not a single entity “but rather a composite of several parts, both public and private, organized on a regional basis with a central governmental supervisory authority.” Reuss v. Balles, 584 F.2d 461, 462 (D.C.Cir.1978). Two of the parts are relevant here — the Board and the Federal Reserve Banks *333 (Reserve Banks). The Board, composed of seven members appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate, is the central supervisory authority of the Federal Reserve System. 12 U.S.C. § 241. There are currently twelve Reserve Banks, each located and operating within a specific region of the country. 1 A bank organized under the laws of any State or the District of Columbia may apply to the Board to join the Federal Reserve System. 12 U.S.C. § 321. On joining, the bank purchases stock of the Reserve Bank responsible for the region of the country where the bank is located and thereby becomes a member bank. Id. Additionally, all national banks, that is, banks chartered under the National Bank Act of 1864 (formerly Act of June 3, 1864, ch. 106, 13 Stat. 99) (codified as amended in scattered sections of 12 U.S.C.); see Indep. Ins. Agents of Am., Inc. v. Hawke, 211 F.3d 638, 640 (D.C.Cir.2000) (“The National Bank Act of 1864 ..., as amended, provides for the chartering of national banks.”), must join the Federal Reserve System by purchasing stock of the Reserve Bank located in its district. 12 U.S.C. § 222. The Reserve Banks, then, “are private corporations whose stock is owned by the member commercial banks within their districts.” Comm, for Monetary Reform v. Bd. of Governors of Fed. Reserve Sys., 766 F.2d 538, 540 (D.C.Cir.1985). Accordingly, they have the power to make contracts, to sue and be sued, to appoint a president and vice presidents, to prescribe bylaws and to perform other acts consistent with a private corporation. 12 U.S.C. § 341.

Notwithstanding the foregoing powers, the Board exercises significant supervisory authority over the Reserve Banks. For example, the Board appoints three of the nine directors of each Reserve Bank, 12 U.S.C. § 302; the Board approves the compensation a Reserve Bank pays to its directors, id. § 307; the Board approves each Reserve Bank’s selection of its president and first vice president, id. § 341; the Board can suspend or remove any officer or director of a Reserve Bank, id. § 248(f); and the Board can “examine at its discretion the accounts, books, and affairs of each Federal reserve bank and of each member bank and ... require such statements and reports as it may deem necessary,” id. § 248(a)(1). The Reserve Banks are authorized to lend money to member banks. Id. § 343. “In unusual and exigent circumstances, the [Board] ... may authorize any Federal reserve bank” to lend money to a nonmember institution. Id. § 343(A). Before doing so, however, the Reserve Bank must “obtain evidence that [the institution] is unable to secure adequate credit accommodations from other banking institutions.” Id.

B. Bear Stearns Financing and FOIA Request

In early March 2008 the Board became aware that Bear Stearns, an important participant in many financial markets, was experiencing severe liquidity problems and might soon declare bankruptcy. Stefansson Decl. ¶ 7. 2 Bear Stearns was a holding company comprised partly of registered broker-dealers and, as such, was regulated by the United States Securities and Ex *334 change Commission (SEC), not the Board. Winter Decl. ¶¶ 10-11. 3 Moreover, because Bear Stearns was not a depository institution, it was ineligible to borrow through the Federal Reserve’s regular short-term lending program. Stefansson Decl. ¶ 7. The tools with which the Board could respond to Bear Stearns’s liquidity problems were accordingly limited. Believing that a Bear Stearns bankruptcy would have far-reaching and negative effects on financial markets, however, the Board and Reserve Bank staff surveyed those institutions subject to the Board’s regulation to assess their exposure to Bear Stearns. Id. ¶ 8. In particular, they sought to ascertain the exposure of large complex banking organizations (LCBOs). 4 Id. On March 13, 2008 the SEC notified the Board and the FRBNY that Bear Stearns had inadequate resources to meet its obligations and planned to declare bankruptcy the following morning. Id. ¶ 7 The Board met the following day — March 14 — and determined “that, given the fragile condition of the financial markets at the time, the prominent position of Bear Stearns in those markets, and the expected contagion that would result from the immediate failure of Bear Stearns, the best alternative available was to provide temporary emergency financing to Bear Stearns through an arrangement with JPMorgan Chase & Co.” Thro Decl. Ex. A (minutes of Board 3/14/08 meeting). 5

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
647 F.3d 331, 396 U.S. App. D.C. 216, 2011 U.S. App. LEXIS 11357, 2011 WL 2162896, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/mckinley-v-board-of-governors-of-the-federal-reserve-system-cadc-2011.