As discussed in the article entitled "Final Joint Agency Privacy Rule Is Issued in Release No. 34-61003" in the November 19, 2009, issue of Accounting & Compliance Alert, the SEC recently issued Release No. 34-61003, Final Model Privacy Form under the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, giving banks, brokers, mutual funds, and other financial companies a safe harbor provision regarding their handling of personal information provided they use a standard form.

For brokers, investment advisers, and other companies registered with the SEC, the changes amount to some minor tweaks to Regulations S-P and S-AM, which deal with investor privacy and affiliate marketing by financial service providers.

The rule was issued jointly with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, Treasury Department; Federal Reserve; Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.; Office of Thrift Supervision (OTS); National Credit Union Administration (NCUA); Federal Trade Commission (FTC); and Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).

It becomes effective 30 days after being published in the Federal Register, which normally occurs a few days after a rule has been posted to the SEC's website.