721 S(XIfH BILTMORE L\NE 

MADISON, WI S3718 

PO.BOXSSOO 

M~ \VI5T.Ilh'l8ro 

{ffi441-ll00 

FAX fffi(J61.9381 

Received CFTC RECEIVED Records Section 

® 5/a'i/o7 C C T(' .r·. ·.~ . 

WISCONSIN 

BANKERS 

ASSOCIATION 

May 29,2007 

t: 

VIA EMAIL 

Office of the Comptroller of the Currency 

250 E Street, SW Mail Stop 1-5 

Washington, DC 20219 

www.requlations.gov 

Docket ID: OCC-2007 -0003 

Mr. Robert E. Feldman, Executive 

Secretary 

Attention: Comments 

Federal Depositlnsurance Corporation 

550 1 ih Street, NW 

Washington, DC 20429 

comments@FDIC.gov 

Ms. Mary Rupp, Secretary of 

the Board 

National Credit Union Administration 

1775 Duke Street 

Alexandria, Virginia 22314-3428 

reqcomments@ncua.gov 

Ms. Eileen Donovan, Acting Secretary 

of the Commission 

Commodity Futures Trading Commission 

Three Lafayette Centre 

11.55 21st Street, NW 

Washington, DC 20581 

secretarv@cftc.gov 

7.ffi7 r1,Y 29 Pi1 2: 38 

OFC. OF TH ~SE ETARIAT ,.._., •• ,o.t:4i".....l~ -·- ··l· .. 

' . 

COMMENT · .. ,' ""f' t" •.; 

Ms. Jennifer J. Johnson, Secretary 

Board of Governors of the Federal 

Reserve System 

201

h Street and Constitutional Avenue NW 

Washington, DC 20551 

reqs.comments@federalreserve.gov 

Docket No: R-1280 

Regulation Comments 

Chief Counsel's Office 

Office of Thrift Supervision 

1700 G Street, NW 

Washington, DC 20552 

www.requlations.gov 

Attention: OTS-2007 -0005 

Federal Trade Commission/Office of the 

Secretary, Room 135 (Annex C) 

600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW 

Washington, DC 20580 

secure .commentworks .com/ftc-modelform 

FTC File No: P034815 

Ms. Nancy M. Morris, Secretary 

Securities and Exchange Commission 

100 F Street, NE 

Washington, DC 20549-1090 

rule-comments@sec.gov 

File No: S7 -09-07 Model Privacy Form 

Re: Interagency Proposal for Model Privacy Form under the Gramm-Leach-Biiley 

Act. 

Dear Sirs and Madams: 

The Wisconsin Bankers Association (WBA) is the largest financial institution trade 

association in Wisconsin, representing approximately 300 state and nationally chartered 

banks, savings and loan associations, and savings banks located in communities 

1 
throughout the state. WBA appreciates the opportunity to comment on the interagency 

proposal for the model privacy form. 

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), Board of Governors of the Federal 

Reserve System (FRB), Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), Office of Thrift 

Supervision (OTS), National Credit Union Administration (NCUA), Federal Trade 

Commission (FTC), Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and Securities 

Exchange Commission (SEC) (collectively, the Agencies) have proposed amendments to 

their rules that implement the privacy provisions of the Gramm-Leach-Biiley Act (GLBA). 

These rules require financial institutions to provide initial and annual privacy notices to their 

customers. To assist the Agencies with their proposed model privacy form, WBA offers the 

following comments. 

Background 

The Regulatory Relief Act (Act) directs the Agencies to "jointly develop a model form which 

may be used, at the option of the financial institution, for the provision of disclosures under 

Section 503 of GLBA." The Act stipulates that the model form shall be a safe harbor for 

financial institutions that elect to use it. The Act further directs that the model form shall: (1) 

be comprehensive to consumers, with a clear format and design; (2) provide for clear and 

conspicuous disclosures; (3) enable consumers easily to identify the sharing practices of a 

financial institution and to compare privacy practices among financial institutions; and (4) 

be succinct, and use an easily readable type font. 

The GLBA requires each financial institution to provide a notice of its privacy policies and 

practices to its customers who are consumers. In general, the privacy notices must 

describe a financial institution's policies and practices with respect to disclosing non-public 

personal information about a consumer to both affiliated and non-affiliated third parties. The 

notices also must provide a consumer a reasonable opportunity to direct the institution 

generally not to share non-public personal information about the consumer with nonaffiliated third parties other than as permitted by statute. In addition, the privacy notice must 

provide, where applicable under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), a notice and an 

opportunity for a consumer to opt out of certain information sharing among affiliates. 

Proposed Privacy Model Form 

The Agencies' proposed privacy model form has either two or three pages. The third page 

is to be used exclusively to identify the financial institution's opt-out provisions. Institutions 

using the proposed model form must include page three in their notices only if they share 

or use information in a manner that triggers an opt-out, or chooses to provide opt-outs 

beyond what is required by law. The Agencies are requiring that each of the pages of the 

model form be printed separately and only on one side of an 8.5 by 11 inch piece of paper. 

The proposed model form is designed to be customized by each financial institution by 

inserting, for example, the institution's name, contact information, and information about 

affiliates, non-affiliates, or joint marketing partners, if any, with which it shares personal 

information. In addition, the disclosure table requires that each institution complete the 

responses in each of the boxes provided in a manner that accurately reflects its information 

sharing policies and practices. No other information may be included in the model form; 

however an institution's corporate logo may be included so long as it does not interfere with 

the readability of the model form or space constraints on each page. 

The Agencies have proposed a 10-point font as the minimum type size. The Agencies have 

not mandated a particular type style or "x-height", however the Agencies have provided 

2 
suggestions for both. The Agencies have also proposed the use of white or light color 

paper with black or suitable contrasting color ink. 

WBA acknowledges the efforts the Agencies have undertaken since 2001 relating to 

improving privacy notices and the development of one model privacy form. WBA is 

concerned, however, that the proposed prescribed privacy model form adds substantial 

cost and is too narrow in its requirements. The requirement that the privacy disclosure must 

only be printed on one side of the paper does not result in greater understanding by 

consumers, rather it merely adds to production and distribution costs of such disclosure. 

Other regulatory disclosures currently provided by financial institutions to consumers are on 

double-sided documents. WBA struggles to see why a privacy disclosure should be treated 

differently. Financial institutions are required under Regulation P to provide a clear and 

conspicuous notice that accurately reflects a financial institution's privacy policies and 

practices. WBA believes this can easily be accomplished in a double-sided printed 

disclosure. WBA also believes that a separate page devoted exclusively to the financial 

institution's opt-out options is burdensome. If such options may be incorporated clearly and 

succinctly elsewhere within the notice, financial institutions should not be required to utilize 

a separate page for this purpose. WBA believes financial institutions should be afforded the 

flexibility to incorporate opt-out provisions accordingly. 

Removal of Safe Harbor for Existing Regulation P Sample Clauses 

The Agencies' proposed model form is a standardized notice that would replace the 

Sample Clauses currently found in Appendix A of the privacy rule Regulation P. The 

proposed model form could be used by financial institutions to comply with requirements for 

a clear and conspicuous privacy notice in sections _.6 and _.7 of Regulation P. The 

Agencies have proposed the elimination of the current Sample Clauses from Regulation P. 

The Agencies in recognition of this compliance burden have proposed to provide a 

transition period of one year after which financial institutions using the current Regulation P 

Sample Clauses for their privacy notices must revise their privacy notices to the proposed 

model form to obtain a safe harbor. Privacy notices using existing Sample Clauses that are 

delivered to consumers to meet the annual notice requirements of Regulation P _.9(c) 

would also have a safe harbor for one year. 

WBA is greatly concerned with the elimination of the safe harbor currently provided to 

financial institutions using Regulation P's existing Sample Clauses. Financial institutions 

have gone to great lengths and expense to meet Regulation P requirements in developing 

privacy notices they currently use. Financial institutions have incorporated the Sample 

Clauses into such notices in reliance on the safe harbor the Sample Clauses afford. To 

now require each financial institution to revise its current privacy disclosure, which includes 

the safe harbor Sample Clauses, would undoubtedly create huge. regulatory burden and 

associated costs- costs that will likely be passed along to the consumer. As such, WBA 

seriously questions whether the costs will outweigh the benefits the Agencies believe a 

singular model privacy notice would provide. 

Financial institutions have worked diligently to create required privacy disclosures under 

the Agencies existing Sample Clauses and have helped educate consumers on privacy 

matters since induction of privacy notice requirements. To require the exclusive use of the 

proposed model form to obtain a safe harbor will require financial institutions to toss out 

everything already accomplished in satisfying Regulation P privacy notice requirements 

and begin the process all over. WBA does not believe that the Act or GLBA require the 

elimination of the existing Sample Clauses, and the attendant safe harbor, in order to 

implement a model form. Therefore, we vehemently oppose such elimination. Financial 

3 
institutions already anticipate revision to their privacy notices once the Agencies finalize all 

requirements under the Fair and Accurate Credit Transaction Act (FACT Act). Once 

finalized, new requirements will have an impact on the substantive content of financial 

institutions' privacy notices thus requiring revisions of privacy notices yet again. This is a 

pattern WBA argues needs to stop. WBA strongly recommends the Agencies retain the 

existing Regulation P Sample Clauses and their safe harbor, and merely add the proposed 

model privacy form as another option in Regulation P that would likewise provide a safe 

harbor. 

Conclusion 

WBA would again like to acknowledge the efforts of the Agencies behind the proposed 

privacy model form. However, WBA believes the format restrictions are an unnecessary 

regulatory burden. Financial institutions are required to provide a clear and conspicuous 

notice that accurately reflects the privacy policies and practices of each financial institution. 

WBA believes that financial institutions can accomplish this requirement through the use of 

their existing privacy notice formats. As such, WBA recommends the Agencies allow for 

financial institutions the flexibility to print on double-sided paper and be allowed to 

incorporate opt-out provisions where appropriate. WBA also strongly encourages the 

Agencies retain the existing Regulation P Sample Clauses and their safe harbor for 

financial institutions rather than impose a huge regulatory burden and excessive costs for 

revision of privacy notices to ensure protection under the proposed exclusive safe harbor. 

Once again, WBA appreciates the opportunity to comment on the proposed privacy model 

form. 

Sincerely, 

Kurt R. Bauer 

PresidenUCEO 

4