Virginia Code 6.2-948: Privilege for self-assessment reports
Except as otherwise provided in this article:
Terms Used In Virginia Code 6.2-948
- Bank: means a corporation authorized by statute to accept deposits and to hold itself out to the public as engaged in the banking business in the Commonwealth. See Virginia Code 6.2-800
- Bank regulator: includes the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the Federal Reserve Board, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the Federal Trade Commission, and the Bureau. See Virginia Code 6.2-947
- Discovery: Lawyers' examination, before trial, of facts and documents in possession of the opponents to help the lawyers prepare for trial.
- Freedom of Information Act: A federal law that mandates that all the records created and kept by federal agencies in the executive branch of government must be open for public inspection and copying. The only exceptions are those records that fall into one of nine exempted categories listed in the statute. Source: OCC
- Litigation: A case, controversy, or lawsuit. Participants (plaintiffs and defendants) in lawsuits are called litigants.
- Person: means any individual, corporation, partnership, association, cooperative, limited liability company, trust, joint venture, government, political subdivision, or other legal or commercial entity. See Virginia Code 6.2-100
- Self-assessment: means (i) a bank's voluntary, self-initiated internal assessment, audit, or review of the bank and its practices, policies, and procedures or (ii) a bank's voluntary, self-initiated assessment, audit, or review of the practices, policies, and procedures of a person acting under contract, directly or indirectly, as the bank's service provider, including mortgage servicers and sub-servicers, credit and debit card processors, and providers of loan document systems. See Virginia Code 6.2-947
- Self-assessment report: means any document, including any audit, report, finding, communication, or opinion or any draft of an audit, report, finding, communication, or opinion, prepared by internal personnel or by outside attorneys, accountants, or consultants as a part of or in connection with a self-assessment that is made in good faith. See Virginia Code 6.2-947
- State: when applied to a part of the United States, includes any of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, and the United States Virgin Islands. See Virginia Code 1-245
1. A self-assessment report and any portion or contents thereof are privileged and are not admissible or subject to discovery in any civil or administrative litigation, action, proceeding, or investigation;
2. The self-assessment privilege shall be applicable regardless of whether a bank regulator or any other governmental authority in possession of a self-assessment report or any portion or contents thereof subsequently discloses it or any portion or contents thereof to a third party (i) in accordance with subsection B of § 6.2-101 or (ii) as required or permitted by any other state or federal law; and
3. Notwithstanding any state or federal law, a bank regulator or any other governmental authority in possession of a self-assessment report or any portion or contents thereof shall not disclose the report or any portion or contents thereof to a person in response to a request made pursuant to the Virginia Freedom of Information Act (§ 2.2-3700 et seq.) or any similar federal or state public records law.