Legal Seminar

May 4 th , 2020

Sarah Pratt Public Access Counselor Office of the Attorney General 500 S. 2nd Street Springfield, Illinois 62701

Re: FOIA – Request for Review by Public Access Counselor by Ann H. Rubin, Esq.

Dear Ms. Pratt, The Conference of State Bank Supervisors (“CSBS”) 1 has prepared this letter to provide its opinion, As administrator of the Nationwide Mortgage Licensing System and Registry (“NMLS”), regarding whether the Secure and Fair Enforcement for Mortgage Licensing Act of 2008, Pub. L. No. 110-289, 122 Stat. 2810 (the “SAFE Act”) prevents the disclosure of information requested on February 11 th , 2020 by Ann H. Rubin on behalf of John Dilorio pursuant to the Illinois Freedom of Information Act, 5 ILCS 140 (“FOIA”). For the reasons set out herein, it is CSBS’s opinion that the SAFE Act prevents the disclosure of the requested information in this instance and, to the extent that the Illinois FOIA does not exempt or otherwise requires disclosure of the requested information, the Illinois FOIA is preempted by the SAFE Act. On February 11 th , 2020, Ms. Rubin, on behalf of John Dilorio, submitted a FOIA request to the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (the “Department”), pursuant to the Illinois FOIA, requesting: 1. All correspondence to, from or between John Prendergast or Alex Accala (Conference of State Banking Supervisors) and/or Mark Clayton, containing or referencing any of the following terms: 1A, 1st Alliance, 1st Alliance Lending, LCC, John Diiorio, Diiorio, NMLS ID # 2819, #2819, 2819 On February 27 th , 2020, Lisa Schlessinger, Assistant General Counsel for the Department denied access to the records requested, in part, on the grounds that the documents requested constitute confidential supervisory information and are exempt from disclosure pursuant to Section (7)(1)(a) of FOIA 2 , Section 1 CSBS is the nationwide organization of state banking and financial regulators from all 50 states, American Samoa, the District of Columbia, Guam, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. CSBS supports the state banking agencies by serving as a forum for policy and supervisory process development, by facilitating regulatory coordination on a state-to-state and state-to-federal basis, and by facilitating state implementation of policy through training, educational programs, and exam resource development. 2 7(1)(a) of the Illinois FOIA states: Sec. 7. Exemptions. (1) When a request is made to inspect or copy a public record that contains information that is exempt from disclosure under this Section, but also contains information that is not exempt from disclosure, the public body may elect to redact the information that is exempt. The public body shall make the remaining information available for inspection and copying. Subject to this requirement, the following shall be exempt from inspection and copying: (a) Information specifically prohibited from disclosure by federal or State law or rules and regulations implementing federal or State law.