Announced Action for May 20, 2004

Commission approval of Federal Register notice: The Federal Trade Commission has approved the publication of a Federal Register notice concerning several revisions to certain provisions of the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act (FACTA), which was enacted on December 4, 2003, and amends the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). Congress directed the FTC to adopt rules to implement several provisions contained in FACTA. In the Federal Register notice published today, the FTC makes non-substantive revisions to two final rules published earlier this year: Effective Dates for the FACT Act and Prohibition Against Circumventing Treatment as a Nationwide Consumer Reporting Agency. Today’s Federal Register notice also revises the Agency’s FACTA rules to state that: (1) all terms are as defined in the FCRA, unless otherwise provided, and (2) any court ruling staying or invalidating any provision of any FACTA rule has no impact on the continuing effectiveness of any other provision or rule. The Commission vote approving publication of the Federal Register notice was 5-0. (FTC File No. R411012, staff contact is Clarke Brinckerhoff, Division of Financial Practices, 202-326-3224.)

Copies of the documents mentioned in this release are available from the FTC’s Web site at http://www.ftc.gov and also from the FTC’s Consumer Response Center, Room 130, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington, DC 20580. Call toll-free: 1-877-FTC-HELP.