issued by the Commission from disclosing to any 
other person the existence of the process, notwith-
standing any law or regulation of the United States, 
or under the constitution, or any law or regulation, 
of any State, political subdivision of a State, terri-
tory of the United States, or the District of Colum-
bia. The presiding judge or magistrate judge may 
enter such an order granting the requested prohibi-
tion of disclosure for a period not to exceed 60 days 
if there is reason to believe that disclosure may 
cause an adverse result, as defined in subsection (g). 
The presiding judge or magistrate judge may grant 
extensions of this order of up to 30 days each in ac-
cordance with this subsection, except that in no 
event shall the prohibition continue in force for more 
than a total of 9 months. 
‘‘(2) 
APPLICATION.—This 
subsection 
shall 
apply only in connection with compulsory process 
issued by the Commission where the recipient of 
such process is not a subject of the investigation or 
proceeding at the time such process is issued. 
‘‘(3) LIMITATION.—No order issued under this 
subsection shall prohibit any recipient from dis-
closing to a Federal agency that the recipient has re-
ceived compulsory process from the Commission.
‘‘(d) NO LIABILITY FOR FAILURE TO NOTIFY.—If 
neither notification nor delayed notification by the Com-
mission is required under the Right to Financial Privacy 
Act (12 U.S.C. 3401 et seq.) or chapter 121 of title 18, 
United States Code, the recipient of compulsory process 
issued by the Commission under this Act shall not be lia-
ble under any law or regulation of the United States, or 
under the constitution, or any law or regulation, of any 
State, political subdivision of a State, territory of the 
United States, or the District of Columbia, or under any 
contract or other legally enforceable agreement, for failure 
to provide notice to any person that such process has been 
issued or that the recipient has provided information in 
response to such process. The preceding sentence does not 
exempt any recipient from liability for— 
‘‘(1) the underlying conduct reported; 
‘‘(2) a failure to comply with the record reten-
tion requirements under section 1104(c) of the 
Right to Financial Privacy Act (12 U.S.C. 3404), 
where applicable; or 
‘‘(3) any failure to comply with any obligation 
the recipient may have to disclose to a Federal agen-
cy that the recipient has received compulsory process 
from the Commission or intends to provide or has
provided information to the Commission in response 
to such process. 
‘‘(e) VENUE AND PROCEDURE.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—All judicial proceedings ini-
tiated by the Commission under the Right to Finan-
cial Privacy Act (12 U.S.C. 3401 et seq.), chapter 
121 of title 18, United States Code, or this section 
may be brought in the United States District Court 
for the District of Columbia or any other appro-
priate United States District Court. All ex parte ap-
plications by the Commission under this section re-
lated to a single investigation may be brought in a 
single proceeding. 
‘‘(2) IN CAMERA PROCEEDINGS.—Upon applica-
tion by the Commission, all judicial proceedings pur-
suant to this section shall be held in camera and the 
records thereof sealed until expiration of the period 
of delay or such other date as the presiding judge 
or magistrate judge may permit. 
‘‘(f) SECTION NOT TO APPLY TO ANTITRUST INVES-
TIGATIONS
OR PROCEEDINGS.—This section shall not 
apply to an investigation or proceeding related to the ad-
ministration of Federal antitrust laws or foreign antitrust 
laws as defined in paragraphs (5) and (7), respectively,
of section 12 of the International Antitrust Enforcement 
Assistance Act of 1994 (15 U.S.C. 6211). 
‘‘(g) ADVERSE RESULT DEFINED.—For purposes of 
this section the term ‘adverse result’ means— 
‘‘(1) endangering the life or physical safety of 
an individual; 
‘‘(2) flight from prosecution; 
‘‘(3) the destruction of, or tampering with, evi-
dence; 
‘‘(4) the intimidation of potential witnesses; or 
‘‘(5) otherwise seriously jeopardizing an inves-
tigation or proceeding related to fraudulent or de-
ceptive commercial practices or persons involved in 
such practices, or unduly delaying a trial related to 
such practices or persons involved in such practices, 
including, but not limited to, by— 
‘‘(A) the transfer outside the territorial 
limits of the United States of assets or records 
related to fraudulent or deceptive commercial 
practices or related to persons involved in such 
practices; 
‘‘(B) impeding the ability of the Commis-
sion to identify persons involved in fraudulent 
or deceptive commercial practices, or to trace