An amendment creating an exception to the annual privacy notice delivery requirement for financial institutions has been signed into law by President Obama as part of the “Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act” (FAST Act).

Section 75001 of the FAST Act, signed into law on December 4, 2015, amends Section 503 of the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLBA) to add an exception to the annual notice delivery requirement for any financial institution that:

• Only shares nonpublic personal information (NPI) as permitted by the GLBA without providing consumers with notice and opt-out rights, and
• Has not changed its policies and practices with regard to disclosing NPI since its most recent disclosure sent to consumers

U.S. Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer (R-MO), the sponsor of the GLBA amendment, has praised this exception as a way to “put an end to redundant mailings” and “make it more likely for people to pay closer attention to mailings they receive from their financial institutions because they would be receiving fewer.” The amendment takes effect immediately.

The new law follows closely on the heels of regulatory efforts to provide relief from the burdensome GLBA annual privacy notice requirements, including new regulations issued by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the Federal Trade Commission, which allow financial institutions that meet certain requirements to deliver the annual financial privacy notices to their customers using an alternative online delivery method, such as posting such notices on a company website.