~ securities and exchange commission ordered to reconsider FOIA requests ~

A recent federal ruling suggests that some Securities and Exchange Commission files of companies it's investigating are public records. Minnesota U.S. District Judge Paul Magnuson delivered a partial victory to SECInsight, which brought suit against the SEC on behalf of its investor clients.

In a decision handed down in a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit filed in the wake of corporate scandals, a Federal judge this week concluded that the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) failed to follow proper procedure in responding to litigation brought by SEC Insight, Inc., an independent and private investment research firm. SEC Insight brought the action in 2004 in response to the SEC's increased denial of records under the FOIA. The Court also remanded 10 requests to the SEC for immediate processing and ordered the agency to provide better basis for records it continues to deny.

[Technorati tags: public records securities and exchange commission]