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2026 Chief FOIA Officer Report

Benjamin W. McDonough, Deputy Secretary and Chief FOIA Officer for the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (Board), hereby submits the Chief FOIA Officer Report on behalf of the Board.

Section I: FOIA Leadership and Applying the Presumption of Openness

The guiding principle underlying the Department of Justice's (DOJ) 2022 FOIA Guidelines is the presumption of openness. The Guidelines also highlight the importance of agency leadership in ensuring effective FOIA administration.

Please answer the following questions about FOIA leadership at your agency and describe the steps your agency has taken to ensure that the presumption of openness is being applied to all decisions involving the FOIA.

A. Leadership Support for FOIA

1. The FOIA requires each agency to designate a Chief FOIA Officer who is a senior official at the Assistant Secretary or equivalent level. See 5 U.S.C. § 552(j)(1) (2018). Is your agency's Chief FOIA Officer at or above this level?

Yes

2. Please provide the name and title of your agency's Chief FOIA Officer.

Benjamin W. McDonough, Deputy Secretary of the Board

3. What steps has your agency taken to incorporate FOIA into its core mission? For example, has your agency incorporated FOIA milestones into its strategic plan?

The Board's Strategic Plan 2024-27 notes that the Board prioritizes increasing transparency and the public's understanding of the Federal Reserve by providing timely and accurate information. The plan states that the Board meets this objective through effectively communicating its policy decisions, comprehensive reporting on its operations, and engagement with the public.

B. Presumption of Openness

4. DOJ's 2022 FOIA Guidelines provides that "agencies should confirm in response letters to FOIA requesters that they have considered the foreseeable harm standard when reviewing records and applying FOIA exemptions." Does your agency provide such confirmation in its response letters?

Yes, the Board confirms in response letters to FOIA requesters that the foreseeable harm standard was considered when reviewing records and applying FOIA exemptions.

5. In some circumstances, agencies may respond to a requester that it can neither confirm nor deny the existence of requested records if acknowledging the existence of records would harm an interest protected by a FOIA exemption. This is commonly referred to as a Glomar response. If your agency tracks Glomar responses, please provide:

  • the number of times your agency issued a full or partial Glomar response during Fiscal Year (FY) 2025 (please separate full and partial Glomar responses if possible);
  • the number of times a Glomar response was issued by exemption during FY 2025 (e.g., Exemption 7(C) - 20 times, Exemption 1 – 5 times).

N/A

6. Optional -- If there are any other initiatives undertaken by your agency to ensure that the presumption of openness is being applied, please describe them here.

The Board promotes openness and transparency by proactively disclosing pertinent information to the public in searchable and open formats to facilitate user access. The Board has taken initiatives to further the presumption of openness, such as live-streaming seminal events, updating its Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) webpages, and engaging with the public on social media platforms. See responses to questions in Section III of this report for specific examples.

Section II: Ensuring Fair and Effective FOIA Administration

DOJ's 2022 FOIA Guidelines provide that "[e]nsuring fair and effective FOIA administration requires . . . proper training, and a full understanding of FOIA obligations by the entire agency workforce." The Guidelines reinforce longstanding guidance to "work with FOIA requesters in a spirit of cooperation." DOJ also "urge[s] agency Chief FOIA Officers to undertake comprehensive review of all aspects of their agency's FOIA administration" as part of ensuring fair and effective FOIA administration.

A. FOIA Training

1. The FOIA directs agency Chief FOIA Officers to ensure that FOIA training is offered to agency personnel. See 5 U.S.C. § 552(a)(j)(2)(F). Please describe the efforts your agency has undertaken to ensure proper FOIA training is made available and used by agency personnel.

The Board incorporated the Office of Information Policy's (OIP) FOIA training modules into the Board's internal training application, which is accessible by all Board employees. In addition, employees who have full-time responsibility for administering the FOIA are required to take substantive FOIA training annually and demonstrate appropriate subject matter expertise as part of their employee performance evaluation.

2. Did your FOIA professionals, or other personnel at your agency with FOIA responsibilities, attend substantive FOIA training during the reporting period, such as training provided by the Department of Justice?

Yes

3. If yes, please provide a brief description of the type of training attended or conducted and the topics covered.

Board FOIA professionals attended virtual trainings provided by OIP on the following topics:

  • Exemption 4 and Exemption 5 Training – provided an overview of the requirements of Exemption 4 protecting trade secrets, certain commercial and financial information, and the submitter-notice process for exemption determinations and an overview of Exemption 5, which incorporates civil discovery privileges into the FOIA;
  • Advanced FOIA Training – discussed advanced topics in FOIA administration including advanced procedural requirements, reviewing significant new decisions, and advanced considerations for Exemptions 6 and 7C;
  • Exemption 1 and Exemption 7 Training – gave an overview of Executive Order 13526 and the withholding of classified national security information and an overview of the primary exemption for withholding law enforcement records, including the exemption's threshold requirement and substantive subparts;
  • Litigation Training – covered considerations that arise in the course of FOIA litigation, including guidance on successful litigation strategy and preparation of Vaughn indices and declarations;
  • Administrative Appeals, FOIA Compliance, and Customer Service Training – discussed the FOIA administrative appeal process, an overview of how agency FOIA professionals can help their agency accurately report about their FOIA administration, and an overview of the Office of Government Information Services with a focus on providing good customer service;
  • Procedural Requirements, and Fee and Fee Waivers Training – provided an overview of the FOIA's procedural requirements and an overview of the FOIA's fee and fee waiver provisions; and
  • Privacy Considerations Training – discussed the FOIA's privacy exemptions and the Privacy Act as well as the interface between the FOIA and the Privacy Act and an overview of Exemptions 6 and 7(C).

Board FOIA professionals attended virtual trainings provided by the American Society of Access Professionals on the following topic:

  • FOIA Court Case Update – discussed recent FOIA case law and offered perspectives on the impact to FOIA processing.

4. Please provide an estimate of the percentage of your FOIA professionals and staff with FOIA responsibilities who attended substantive FOIA training during this reporting period.

All (100 percent) of the Board's FOIA professionals and staff with FOIA responsibilities attended substantive FOIA training during this reporting period.

5. OIP has directed agencies to "take steps to ensure that all of their FOIA professionals attend substantive FOIA training at least once throughout the year." If your response to the previous question is that less than 80 percent of your FOIA professionals attended training, please explain your agency's plan to ensure that all FOIA professionals receive or attend substantive FOIA training during the next reporting year.

N/A

6. Describe any efforts your agency has undertaken to inform non-FOIA professionals of their obligations under the FOIA. In particular, please describe how often and in what formats your agency provides FOIA training or briefings to non-FOIA staff; and if senior leaders at your agency received a briefing on your agency's FOIA resources, obligations and expectations during the FOIA process.

All Board staff can access OIP's FOIA training modules, which are incorporated into the Board's internal training application, which is widely available. In addition, the Board's Chief FOIA Officer meets with senior leaders to explain their obligations under FOIA during the onboarding process. Moreover, the Board's FOIA Public Liaison assists non-FOIA professionals in understanding their responsibilities under the FOIA as well as the scope of requests and exemption application.

B. Outreach

7. As part of the standard request process, do your FOIA professionals proactively contact requesters concerning complex or voluminous requests in an effort to clarify or narrow the scope of the request so requesters can receive responses more quickly? Please describe any such outreach or dialogue, and, if applicable, any specific examples.

Yes, the Board's FOIA professionals proactively contact requesters concerning complex or voluminous requests in an effort to clarify or narrow the scope of the request. For example, the Board routinely receives requests for banking application records, such as mergers and exemptions, which are often complex or voluminous. The Board's FOIA professionals proactively contact requesters of banking applications about narrowing the scope of their request to accept the public version of the application, as designated by the submitter, or previously released application records. Requesters who agree to the modifications receive responses more quickly.

8. Outside of the standard request process or routine FOIA Liaison or FOIA Requester Service Center interactions, did your FOIA professionals engage in any outreach or dialogue with the requester community or open government groups regarding your administration of the FOIA? For example, did you proactively contact frequent requesters, host FOIA-related conference calls with open government groups, or provide FOIA training to members of the public? Please describe any such outreach or dialogue, and, if applicable, any specific examples of how this dialogue has led to improvements in your agency's FOIA administration.

No, the Board's FOIA professionals did not engage in any outreach or dialogue with the requester community or open government groups regarding the administration of the FOIA outside of the standard request process or routine FOIA Liaison or FOIA Requester Service interactions. But the Board's FOIA professionals regularly dialogue with the requester community to answer questions about a variety of topics, such as the Board's FOIA processes, the Board's statutory responsibilities, and the released information. The FOIA professionals' dialogue with the requester community assists requesters with submitting targeted requests that helped improve the Board's overall FOIA administration.

9. The FOIA Improvement Act of 2016 requires additional notification to requesters about the services provided by the agency's FOIA Public Liaison. Please provide an estimate of the number of times requesters sought assistance from your agency's FOIA Public Liaison during Fiscal Year 2025 (please provide a total number or an estimate of the number for the agency overall).

FOIA requesters sought assistance from the Board's FOIA Public Liaison approximately thirty times during Fiscal Year 2025.

C. Other Initiatives

10. Has your agency evaluated the allocation of agency personnel resources needed to respond to current and anticipated FOIA demands? If so, please describe what changes your agency has or will implement.

Yes, the Board evaluated the allocation of agency personnel resources needed to respond to current and anticipated FOIA demands. The Board continues training less experienced FOIA professionals to address the increased FOIA demands.

11. How does your agency use data or processing metrics to ensure efficient management of your FOIA workload? For example, case management reports, staff processing statistics, etc. In addition, please specifically highlight any data analysis methods or technologies used.

The Board uses case management reports and staff processing statistics to ensure efficient management of FOIA workload. The Board's Information Disclosure Section manager uses monthly FOIA backlog reports, weekly staff processing reports/statistics, and ad hoc communications to assign or reassign cases among the FOIA professionals when appropriate.

12. Optional -- If there are any other initiatives undertaken by your agency to ensure fair and effective FOIA administration, please describe them here.

The Board's FOIA Public Liaison meets with the Board's Chief FOIA Officer periodically to discuss the administration of the FOIA program. In addition, the Board's FOIA Public Liaison regularly reviews the status of pending FOIA requests to strategize ways to mitigate processing delays and communicates with Board staff in other divisions, when necessary, to facilitate closing requests.

Section III: Proactive Disclosures

DOJ's 2022 FOIA Guidelines emphasize that "proactive disclosure of information is … fundamental to the faithful application of the FOIA." The Guidelines direct agencies to post "records online quickly and systematically in advance of any public request" and reiterate that agencies should post records "in the most useful, searchable, and open formats possible."

1. Please describe what steps your agency takes to identify, track, and post (a)(2) proactive disclosures.

The Board's FOIA Public Liaison partners with staff from other Board divisions to identify and proactively post records of public interest in the Board's electronic FOIA reading room. In addition, the Board's FOIA professionals review the Board's case management system when processing requests to identify previously released records that can be posted. The Board's Information Disclosure Section manager has also tasked one FOIA professional to periodically review the Board's FOIA logs to identify, track, and post records for proactive disclosure.

2. Does your agency post logs of its FOIA requests?

No, the Board does not post logs of its FOIA requests.

  • If so, what information is contained in the logs?
  • Are they posted in CSV format? If not, what format are they posted in?
  • Please provide a link to the page where any FOIA logs are posted. If applicable, please provide component links.

N/A

3. Provide examples of any material (with links) that your agency has proactively disclosed during the past reporting year, including records that have been requested and released three or more times in accordance with 5 U.S.C. § 552(a)(2)(D).

As stated in Section I, the Board is committed to promoting openness and transparency by posting information of public interest in various searchable and machine-readable formats to accommodate different user preferences. The items below are examples of information that the Board has proactively disclosed on its public website.

  • The Board posts information in various formats to accommodate different user preferences and enhance public accessibility, such as:
  • In accordance with 5 U.S.C. § 552(a)(2)(D), the Board proactively posted frequently requested records and other items of general public interest in the FOIA electronic reading room, such as:
  • The Board also issued many publications and reports of public interest on a variety of topics, including:
    • Survey of Finance Companies, which describes recent developments in the structure of the finance company industry, finance company income statements and profitability, consumer lenders (specifically auto lenders and personal loan companies), and recent trends in balance sheets and lending in 2023;
    • Federal Reserve Stress Test Results, which evaluates the financial resilience of large banks by estimating losses, revenues, expenses, and resulting capital levels under hypothetical economic conditions;
    • Supervisory Stress Test Scenarios, which describes a hypothetical set of conditions designed to assess the strength and resilience of banks in an adverse economic environment;
    • Large Bank Capital Requirements, which provides the capital framework for bank holding companies, covered savings and loan holding companies, and U.S. intermediate holding companies with $100 billion or more total consolidated assets;
    • Monetary Policy Report, which discusses monetary policy and economic developments and prospects for the future;
    • Small Business Credit: How Entrepreneurs Finance the American Dream, which explores credit options for small business by discussing why credit is important, reviewing the types of available credit products, and summarizing key considerations for small business owners;
    • No FEAR Act Annual Report, which summarizes the accomplishments within the Board's Equal Employment Opportunity program in implementing the act by focusing principally on EEO complaint processing;
    • Beige Book, which summarizes information about current economic conditions across the 12 Federal Reserve Districts;
    • Preserving and Promoting Minority Depository Institutions, which examines the System's supervision responsibility relative to Minority Depository Institutions, the System's Partnership for Progress initiatives, the Board's research efforts, and other System efforts and initiatives;
    • Financial Stability Report, which discusses the Board's current assessment of the stability of the U.S. financial system;
    • Capital Assessments and Stress Testing Information Collection (FR Y-14), which collects detailed data on bank holding companies', savings and loan holding companies', and intermediate holding companies' quantitative projections of balance sheet assets and liabilities, income, losses, and capital across a range of macroeconomic scenarios and qualitative information on methodologies used to develop internal projections of capital across scenarios;
    • Banking Applications Activity Semiannual Report, which provides information regarding the applications filed by banking organizations and reviewed by the Federal Reserve as of the most recent reporting period ending on June 30 and December 31 of each calendar year;
    • Supervision and Regulation Report, which informs the public and provides transparency about the Board's supervisory and regulatory policies and actions, as well as current banking conditions;
    • Combined Quarterly Financial Report, which summarizes the unaudited financial position and results of operations of the 12 Reserve Banks as well as the combined statements of condition, operations, and changes in capital;
    • Comprehensive Capital Analysis and Review Questions and Answers, which provides answers to questions from firms related to the Comprehensive Capital and Analysis Review and Dodd-Frank Act Stress Test on an ongoing basis to assist with the interpretation of reporting instructions and related regulations and supervisory guidance;
    • Federal Reserve Balance Sheet Developments, which contains a snapshot of Federal Reserve actions and activity in managing its balance sheet, including an overview of the Federal Reserve's balance sheet trends, a review of changes in key Federal Reserve assets, and a review of changes in key Federal Reserve liabilities;
    • Cybersecurity and Financial System Resilience Report, which discusses the Board's policies and procedures related to cybersecurity risk management, Board activities to address cybersecurity risks, and current and emerging cyber threats that may pose a risk to the resilience of the financial system;
    • FedListens: Perspectives from the Public, which summarizes points that were highlighted consistently by a wide range of individuals and groups pertaining to the Federal Reserve's dual-mandate goals;
    • AI Compliance Plan, which shares the Board's commitment to an artificial intelligence (AI) program that seizes the opportunities AI presents with the Board's Chief Artificial Officer playing an important role in advancing the Board's AI objectives and promoting AI innovation, adoption, and governance in coordination with appropriate Board officials;
    • Financial Accounting Manual for Federal Reserve Banks, which contains the accounting standards that should be followed by the Federal Reserve Banks; and
    • Beige Book, which summarizes information on the current economic conditions by Federal Reserve District.

4. Please provide a link (or component links, if applicable) where your agency routinely posts its frequently requested records.

The Board routinely posts its frequently requested records at the following link: https://www.federalreserve.gov/foia/readingrooms.htm.

5. Beyond posting new material, is your agency taking steps to make the posted information more useful to the public, especially to the community of individuals who regularly access your agency's website? If yes, please provide examples of such improvements, such as steps taken to post information in open and machine-readable formats. If your agency is not taking steps to make posted information more useful, please explain why.

Yes, the Board is taking steps to make the posted information more useful to the public, especially to the community of individuals who regularly access the Board's website. Board staff and contractors post information in open and machine-readable formats when feasible. The items below are examples of such information.

  • The Board launched new Bluesky Federal Reserve and Federal Research accounts which explain what the Board does with users' personal data and how the Board handles personal data in the context of the Board's relationships with other businesses.
  • The Board published a 2025 Framework Review of Monetary Policy Strategy, Tools, and Communications which describes the goals for monetary policy, articulates the policy framework, and serves as the foundation for the Federal Open Market Committee's policy actions. The review featured three key components: Fed Listens initiative, Second Thomas Laubach Research Conference, and analytical work.
  • The Board redesigned a new Proposals for Comment website to simplify how members of the pubic submit comments about regulatory proposals and includes additional filtering options for "organization type" within the public comments section.
  • The Board published new frequently asked questions about Interest on Reserve Balances which answers what are reserves, why are they important, and how do they work.
  • The Board published a video tour about the renovation of two historic buildings which includes updates to make the buildings safe, healthy, and effective places to work.
  • The Board posted Living Wills (Resolution Plans) which describe the company's strategy for rapid and orderly resolution in the event of material financial distress or failure of the company.
  • The Board updated the Master Account and Services Database which provides comprehensive, searchable information on which financial institutions have or have requested access to Federal Reserve Bank financial services. The database includes an FAQ page and has two components:
    • The Existing Access database consists of financial institutions that have access to Reserve Bank financial services; and
    • The Access Requests database consists of financial institutions that have requested access to Reserve Bank financial services after December 23, 2022, along with the status of these requests.
  • The Board updated statistical release reports, such as:
    • H.2, which provides information on actions of the Board, its staff, and the Federal Reserve Banks;
    • H.4.1, which provides information on factors affecting reserve balances;
    • H.6, which provides information about money stock measures;
    • H.8, which provides information about assets and liabilities of commercial banks in the United States;
    • H.10, which provides information about foreign exchange rates; and
    • H.15, which provides information about selected interest rates.
  • The Board updated the interactive data visualizations to make the information more useful to the public. Visualization tools allow users to easily download data for further research, such as:
    • ​​​​​​​Survey of Household Economics and Decisionmaking, which reports on the economic well-being of U.S. households by demographics such as education, race and ethnicity, age, metro/non-metro status, and parental status.
    • Financial Accounts of the United States (Z.1), which provides data on transactions and levels of financial assets and liabilities (by sector and financial instrument), full balance sheets (including net worth) for households and nonprofit organizations, integrated macroeconomic accounts, and supplemental details, including:
      • Household Balance Sheet, which includes assets, liabilities, and net worth for households and nonprofit organizations;
      • Changes in Net Worth, which consists of transactions, revaluations, and other volume changes for households and nonprofit organizations; and
      • Debt of Nonfinancial Sectors, which includes debt securities (commercial paper, Treasury securities, agency- and GSE-backed securities, municipal securities, and corporate and foreign bonds) and loans (depository institution loans, other loans and advances, mortgages, and consumer credit).
    • Enhanced Financial Accounts, which provides supplementary information that offers finer detail, additional types of activities, higher-frequency data, and more disaggregated data, including:

6. Does your proactive disclosure process or system involve any collaboration with agency staff outside the FOIA office, such as IT or data personnel? If so, describe this interaction.

The Board's FOIA Public Liaison collaborates with Board staff in other divisions, such as Legal and IT, to identify information important to broad members of the public to proactively disclose and post on the Board's public website.

7. Optional -- Please describe the best practices used to improve proactive disclosures and any challenges your agency faces in this area.

As noted, in response to Question 1 in Section III, the Board's FOIA Public Liaison and staff from other Board divisions collaborate to identify records to proactively post in the Board's electronic FOIA reading room. In addition, the Board's Information Disclosure Section manager tasked one FOIA professional to review the Board's FOIA logs to identify, track, and post records for proactive disclosure. The Board has not faced challenges in proactively disclosing information. As apparent from the examples above, the Board has dedicated significant resources to identifying and proactively posting a broad range of information concerning Board actions, policies, and decisions.

Section IV: Steps Taken to Make Better Use of Technology

A key component of FOIA administration is using technology to make information available to the public and to gain efficiency in FOIA processing. DOJ's 2022 FOIA Guidelines emphasize the importance of making FOIA websites easily navigable and complying with the FOIA.gov interoperability requirements. Please answer the following questions to describe how your agency is using technology to improve its FOIA administration and the public's access to information.

1. Has your agency reviewed its FOIA-related technological capabilities to identify resources needed to respond to current and anticipated FOIA demands?
Yes, the Board reviewed its FOIA-related technological capabilities to identify resources needed to respond to current and anticipated FOIA demands.

2. Please briefly describe any new types of technology your agency uses to support your FOIA program.

The Board's commercial-off-the shelf (COTS) software improves efficiency in FOIA processing by streamlining and automating the end-to-end processing of FOIA requests.

3. Does your agency currently use any technology to automate request intake, customer service, or record processing? For example, does your agency use artificial intelligence or other tools to conduct searches or make redactions? If so, please describe and, if possible, estimate how much time and financial resources are saved since implementing the technology.

The Board uses COTS software to automate record processing. Board staff can use the software to simultaneously redact the same information on multiple pages. In addition, the Board uses COTS software to conduct email searches and de-dupe records. The Board's use of automated technology may have reduced the processing time by approximately one-quarter depending upon the volume and nature of the records.

4. OIP issued guidance in 2017 encouraging agencies to regularly review their FOIA websites to ensure that they contain essential resources and are informative and user-friendly. Has your agency reviewed its FOIA website(s) during the reporting period to ensure it addresses the elements noted in the guidance?

Yes, the Board's FOIA Public Liaison reviewed the Board's FOIA website during the reporting period to ensure it addresses the elements noted in the guidance.

5. Did all four of your agency's quarterly reports for Fiscal Year 2025 appear on FOIA.gov?

Yes, all four of the Board's quarterly reports for Fiscal Year 2025 appear on FOIA.gov.

6. If your agency did not successfully post all quarterly reports on FOIA.gov, please explain why and provide your agency's plan for ensuring that such reporting is successful in Fiscal Year 2026.

N/A

7. The FOIA Improvement Act of 2016 requires all agencies to post the raw statistical data used to compile their Annual FOIA Reports. Please provide the link to this posting for your agency's Fiscal Year 2024 Annual FOIA Report and, if available, for your agency's Fiscal Year 2025 Annual FOIA Report.

2024 Report and Raw Data: https://www.federalreserve.gov/foia/annrept_2024.htm

8. In February 2019, DOJ and OMB issued joint Guidance establishing interoperability standards to receive requests from the National FOIA Portal on FOIA.gov. Are all components of your agency in compliance with the guidance?

Yes, the Board is in compliance with the guidance establishing interoperability to receive requests from the National FOIA Portal on FOIA.gov.

9. Optional -- Please describe your agency best practices in better utilizing technology and any challenges your agency faces in this area.

The Board uses robust electronic recordkeeping software to maintain and archive records needed to process FOIA requests. The Board's electronic recordkeeping system, known as Federated Information Records Management Architecture (FIRMA), currently maintains over 8 million documents and typically increases in volume by about 760,000 documents each year.

Section V: Steps Taken to Remove Barriers to Access, Improve Timeliness in Responding to Requests, and Reduce Backlogs

DOJ's 2022 FOIA Guidelines instruct agencies "to remove barriers to requesting and accessing government records and to reduce FOIA processing backlogs." Please answer the following questions to describe how your agency is removing barriers to access, improving timeliness in responding to requests, and reducing FOIA backlogs.

A. Remove Barriers to Access

1. Has your agency established alternative means of access for any categories of first-party requested records, outside of the typical FOIA or Privacy Act process?

Yes, the Board has established alternative means of access to first-party requested records outside of the FOIA process.

2. If yes, please provide examples. If no, please indicate why not. Please also indicate if you do not know.

First-party requesters can submit requests to the Board through the online portal or by mail.

3. Please describe any other steps your agency has taken to remove barriers to accessing government information.

The Board accepts remote identity-proofing and authentication to remove barriers to accessing information in response to first-party requests. Remote identity-proofing and authentication helps expedite the proof of identity requirement for access to first-party records.

B. Timeliness

4. For Fiscal Year 2025, what was the average number of days your agency reported for adjudicating requests for expedited processing? Please see Section VIII.A. of your agency's Fiscal Year 2025 Annual FOIA Report.

The Board adjudicated requests for expedited processing in an average of seven days.

5. If your agency's average number of days to adjudicate requests for expedited processing was more than ten calendar days, according to Section VIII.A. of your agency's Fiscal Year 2025 Annual FOIA Report, please describe the steps your agency will take to ensure that requests for expedited processing are adjudicated within ten calendar days or less.

N/A

6. Does your agency utilize a separate track for simple requests?

Yes, the Board uses simple, complex, and expedited tracks to process requests.

7. If your agency uses a separate track for simple requests, according to Annual FOIA Report Section VII.A., was the agency overall average number of days to process simple requests twenty working days or fewer in Fiscal Year 2025?

Yes, the average number of days to process a simple request was five.

8. If not, did the simple track average processing time decrease compared to the previous Fiscal Year?

N/A

9. Please provide the percentage of requests processed by your agency in Fiscal Year 2025 that were placed in your simple track. Please use the following calculation based on the data from your Annual FOIA Report: (processed simple requests from Section VII.C.1.) divided by (requests processed from Section V.A.) x 100.

Sixteen percent of FOIA requests processed by the Board were placed in the simple track.

10. If your agency does not track simple requests separately, was the average number of days to process all non-expedited requests twenty working days or fewer?

N/A

C. Backlogs

Backlogged Requests

11. If your agency had a backlog of requests at the close of Fiscal Year 2025, according to Annual FOIA Report Section XII.D.2, did that backlog decrease as compared with the backlog reported at the end of Fiscal Year 2024?

No, the backlog of requests at the close of Fiscal Year 2025 increased compared with the backlog reported at the end of Fiscal Year 2024.

12. If not, according to Annual FOIA Report Section XII.D.1, did your agency process more requests during Fiscal Year 2025 than it did during Fiscal Year 2024?

Yes, the Board processed more requests during Fiscal Year 2025 than it did during Fiscal Year 2024.

13. If your agency's request backlog increased during Fiscal Year 2025, please explain why and describe the causes that contributed to your agency not being able to reduce its backlog. When doing so, please also indicate if any of the following were contributing factors:

  • An increase in the number of incoming requests
  • A loss of staff
  • An increase in the complexity of the requests received (if possible, please provide examples or briefly describe the types of complex requests contributing to your backlog increase)
  • Litigation
  • Any other reasons – please briefly describe or provide examples when possible

The increase in the Board's request backlog during Fiscal Year 2025 is attributable to an increase in the number and complexity of incoming requests. The Board received over 85 additional incoming requests in Fiscal Year 2025 compared to Fiscal Year 2024. Despite the increase in the number of incoming requests, the Board's backlogged requests only increased by approximately ten requests in Fiscal Year 2025 compared to Fiscal Year 2024. In addition, approximately eighteen percent of the incoming requests were from one requester who sought documents referenced in historical Board meeting minutes.

14. If you had a request backlog, please report the percentage of requests that make up the backlog out of the total number of requests received by your agency in Fiscal Year 2025. Please use the following calculation based on data from your Annual FOIA Report: (backlogged requests from Section XII.A.) divided by (requests received from Section V.A.) x 100. This number can be greater than 100 percent. If your agency has no request backlog, please answer with "N/A."

The percentage of requests that make up the backlog out of the total number of requests received is five percent.

Backlogged Appeals

15. If your agency had a backlog of appeals at the close of Fiscal Year 2025, according to Section XII.E.2 of the Annual FOIA Report, did that backlog decrease as compared with the backlog reported at the end of Fiscal Year 2024?

Yes, the backlog of appeals at the close of Fiscal Year 2025 decreased compared with the backlog reported at the end of Fiscal Year 2024.

16. If not, according to Section XII.E.1 of the Annual FOIA Report, did your agency process more appeals during Fiscal Year 2025 than it did during Fiscal Year 2024?

N/A

17. If your agency's appeal backlog increased during Fiscal Year 2025, please explain why and describe the causes that contributed to your agency not being able to reduce its backlog. When doing so, please also indicate if any of the following were contributing factors:

  • An increase in the number of incoming appeals
  • A loss of staff
  • An increase in the complexity of the requests received (if possible, please provide examples or briefly describe the types of complex requests contributing to your backlog increase)
  • Litigation
  • Any other reasons – please briefly describe or provide examples when possible

N/A

18. If you had an appeal backlog please report the percentage of appeals that make up the backlog out of the total number of appeals received by your agency in Fiscal Year 2025. Please use the following calculation based on the data from your Annual FOIA Report: (backlogged appeals from Section XII.A.) divided by (appeals received from Section VI.A.) x 100. This number can be greater than 100 percent. If your agency did not receive any appeals in Fiscal Year 2025 and/or has no appeal backlog, please answer with "N/A."

The percentage of appeals that make up the backlog out of the total number of appeals received is three percent.

D. Backlog Reduction Plans

19. In the 2025 guidelines for Chief FOIA Officer Reports, any agency with a backlog of over 1000 requests in Fiscal Year 2024 was asked to provide a plan for achieving backlog reduction in the year ahead. Did your agency implement a backlog reduction plan last year? If so, describe your agency's efforts in implementing this plan and note if your agency was able to achieve backlog reduction in Fiscal Year 2025?

N/A

20. If your agency had a backlog of more than 1,000 requests in Fiscal Year 2025, please explain your agency's plan to reduce this backlog during Fiscal Year 2026.

N/A

E. Reducing the Age of Requests, Appeals, and Consultations

Ten Oldest Requests

21. In Fiscal Year 2025, did your agency close the ten oldest pending perfected requests that were reported in Section VII.E. of your Fiscal Year 2024 Annual FOIA Report?

Yes, the Board closed the ten oldest pending perfected requests that were reported in the Board's Fiscal Year 2024 Annual FOIA Report.

22. If no, please provide the number of these requests your agency was able to close by the end of the fiscal year, as listed in Section VII.E. of your Fiscal Year 2025 Annual FOIA Report. If you had less than ten total oldest requests to close, please indicate that.

N/A

23. Beyond work on the ten oldest requests, please describe any steps your agency took to reduce the overall age of your pending requests.

To reduce the overall age of pending requests, the Board prioritized closing the ten oldest requests, assigned similar requests to FOIA professionals who had experience processing those types of requests, and assigned unperfected requests to specific FOIA professionals.

Ten Oldest Appeals

24. In Fiscal Year 2025, did your agency close the ten oldest appeals that were reported pending in Section VI.C.5 of your Fiscal Year 2024 Annual FOIA Report?

Yes, the Board closed the seven oldest appeals that were reported pending in the Board's Fiscal Year 2024 Annual FOIA Report.

25. If no, please provide the number of these appeals your agency was able to close by the end of the fiscal year, as listed in Section VII.C.5 of your Fiscal Year 2024 Annual FOIA Report. If you had less than ten total oldest appeals to close, please indicate that.

N/A

26. Beyond work on the ten oldest appeals, please describe any steps your agency took to reduce the overall age of your pending appeals.

The Board assigned similar appeals to FOIA professionals who had experience processing those types of appeals and reconsidered adverse determinations, where applicable, to reduce the overall age of pending appeals.

Ten Oldest Consultations

27. In Fiscal Year 2025, did your agency close the ten oldest consultations that were reported pending in Section XII.C. of your Fiscal Year 2024 Annual FOIA Report?

The Board did not have any consultations that were reported pending in the Board's Fiscal Year 2024 Annual FOIA Report.

28. If no, please provide the number of these consultations your agency was able to close by the end of the fiscal year, as listed in Section XII.C. of your Fiscal Year 2024 Annual FOIA Report. If you had less than ten total oldest consultations to close, please indicate that.

The Board had less than ten total oldest consultations to close by the end of the fiscal year.

Additional Information Regarding Ten Oldest

29. If your agency did not close its ten oldest pending requests, appeals, or consultations, please explain why and provide a plan describing how your agency intends to close those "ten oldest" requests, appeals, and consultations during Fiscal Year 2026.

N/A

F. Additional Information about FOIA Processing

30. Were any requests at your agency the subject of FOIA litigation during the reporting period? If so, please describe the impact on your agency's overall FOIA request processing and backlog. If possible, please indicate:

  • The number and nature of requests subject to litigation
  • Common causes leading to litigation
  • Any other information to illustrate the impact of litigation on your overall FOIA administration

The Board had twelve requests that were the subject of FOIA litigation during the reporting period. Ten of those requests were from news media requesters. Six of the twelve requests concerned the bank system stresses involving Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank. The other six requests subject to litigation concerned various subjects, such as the discount window, the administration's tariffs, OIG reports and audits, Board member emails, proposed FOIA legislation regarding the Reserve Banks, and the bankruptcy of Synapse Financial Technologies. Most of the litigations resulted from the Board's untimely responses to the initial requests. Two of the litigations closed during the reporting period when the court granted the Board summary judgment and the requester voluntarily dismissed the case. Despite having twelve litigations, the Board processed 11 percent more requests and 190 percent more appeals in Fiscal Year 2025 compared to Fiscal Year 2024.

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Last Update: March 16, 2026