San Francisco Sues OCC for Municipal Bond Documents on B of A

San Francisco is suing the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency to obtain documents relating to BankAmerica Corp.'s municipal bond business.

In a federal court filing this week, the agency was accused of stonewalling the city attorney's office, which is seeking to prove that BankAmerica mishandled billions of dollars of California bond proceeds.

"It is clear that the OCC has nonprivileged information which will shed substantial light on whether San Francisco-based Bank of America defrauded California taxpayers," said City Attorney Louise Renne. "We are entitled to that information, and we are confident the court will agree with us."

The OCC has been "singularly unresponsive," added the city's chief trial attorney, Patrick J. Mahoney.

On May 9, 1996, San Francisco asked the OCC for BankAmerica examination reports, audit plans, and any correspondence related to its corporate trust operations. The OCC responded by providing a four-page letter it had sent to a senior BankAmerica executive with all but two paragraphs blacked out.

A request last February was met with a similar response, according to the suit, filed in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.

"The OCC has basically stiffed us," Mr. Mahoney said. "It is incomprehensible to us why the OCC is interpreting its privilege so broadly."

National bank examination reports - much of what San Francisco wants to see - are generally confidential, protected by a complex set of regulations and court precedents. The banking agency declined to comment on the city's lawsuit, saying it had not yet received the document.

Spokesman Sam Eskenazi said the OCC has been cooperating as much as it can with the San Francisco attorney's office.

"We've sent them what we have pertaining to this case," he said.

In the municipal bond suit, whose trial has already begun, California, San Francisco, and about 300 other municipalities claim that BankAmericaovercharged them in its role as bond trustee from 1985 to 1995. The trial stems from a whistleblower suit filed in 1995. BankAmerica has denied all charges.

San Francisco Superior Court Judge A. James Robertson is expected to decide by the end of August whether information BankAmerica has produced so far is adequate.

Depending on that ruling, the trial is tentatively scheduled to resume in April.

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