A Federal judge in Manhattan has ruled that the U.S. Federal Reserve may not block requests for disclosure. The court ruled that the central bank failed to show that disclosure would cause borrowers in the Federal Reserve System to suffer “imminent competitive harm,” by stigmatizing them for using Fed lending programs.
According to Reuters,
Monday’s ruling comes as lawmakers and investors demand greater disclosure in how the government manages a series of programs designed to lift the economy out of its deepest recession in decades.
The case arose when two Bloomberg News reporters submitted requests under the federal Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) about actions the Fed took to shore up the financial system in 2007 and early 2008, including an expansion of lending programs and the sale of Bear Stearns Cos to JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM.N).
After the Fed resisted the request, Bloomberg sued to compel disclosure.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ShFP0R6GBt0&feature=player_embedded
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Bernanke’s renomination by BHO when instead he should have been fired is quite telling. We can expect a veto even if we achieve enough support for passage in the Senate. 290 votes in the House will override a veto. Tim Geithner also recently stated that auditing the Fed is “a line we don’t want to cross.”
~ EDITOR HARRUMPHS — Not while Republicans and Democrats run the Senate they won’t.
This is great news! Now comes the audit of the FED!