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PAUL, WEISS, RIFKIND, WHARTON & GARRISON LLP
1285 AVENUE OF THE AMERICAS
NEW YORK, NEW YORK 10019-6064
UNIT 3601 . FORTUNE PLAZA OFFICE TOWER A
NO. 7 DONG SAN H UAN ZHONGLU
CHAO YANG D ISTRICT
BEIJING I 00020
TELEPHONE 1212l 373 · 3000
LLOYD K GARRISON
RANDOLPH E PAUL
SIMON H RIFKIND
l.O UIS S WEISS
JOHN F WHARTON
PEOPLE ' S REPUBLIC OF CHINA
TELEPHONE 186· 101 5828 -6300
1 I 946 • 1991 l
. 1946- 1956 )
t 19SO· t995l
( 1927 I 9501
( 1927 ~ 1977 1
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HONG KONG
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212-373-3350
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wncc1ardi@paulweiss.com
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MATTHEWW ABBOTT
ALLAN J ARFFA
ROBERT A . ATKINS
JOHN F BAUGHMAN
LYNN S BAYARD
DANIEL J BELLER
CRAIG A BENSON•
MITCHELL L. BERG
MARK S . BERGMAN
BRUCE SIRENSOIM
H CHRISTOPHER BOEHNING
ANGELO BONV I NO
HENK BRANDS
JAMES L BROCH'N
RICHARD J . BRONSTEIN
DAVID W . BROWN
SUSANNA M BUERGE L
PATRICK S CAMPBE LL •
JEANETTE K CHAN
YVONNE Y F CHAN
LEWIS R CLAYTON
JAY COHEN
KELLEY A . CORNISH
CHARLES E DAVIDOW
DOUGLAS R DAVIS
T HOMAS V DE LA BASTIOE Il l
ARIEL J OECKELBAUM
JAMES M . DUBIN
ALICE BEL I SLE E ATON
ANDREW J EHRLICH
LESLIE GORDON FAGEN
MARC FALCONE
ANDREW C . FINCH
ROBERTO F INZI
PETER E FISCH
ROBERT C FLEDER
MARTIN FLUMENBAUM
ANDREW J , FOLEY
HARR I S B - FREIOUS
MANUEL $ , FREY
KENNETH A . GALLO
MICHAEL E. GERTZMAN
PAUL D . GINSBERG
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ERIC S . GOLOSTEIN
ERI C GOOOISON
CHARLES H. GOOGE , JR
ANDREW G GORDON
BRUCE A GUTENPLAN
GAINES GWATHMEY. Ill
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TOBY S MYERSON
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ROBERT P PARKER •
MARC E PERLMUTTER
MARK F POMERANTZ
VALERIE E RADWANER
CAREY R. RAMOS
CARLL REISN~R
WALTER G RICC I ARDI
WALTER RIEMA~
RICHARD A ROSEN
ANDREW N ROSENBERG
PETERJ ROTHENBERG
JACQUELINE P RUBIN
RAPHAEL M . RUSSO
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STEVEN SIMKIN
JOSEPH J
ONS
MARILYN
L
TARUN M . S
ART
ERIC ALAN
E
AIDAN SYNNO
ROBYN F. TARNOFSKY
JUDITH R THOYER
DANIEL J . TOAL
MARK A . UNDERBERG
LIZA M . VELAZQUEZ
LAWRENCE G . WEE
THEODORE V WELLS. JR
SETH A WILKINSON
STE V EN J WILLIAMS
LAWRENCE I. WJTOORCHIC
J O RDAN E . YARETT
KAYE N YOSHINO
TONG YU
TRACEY A . ZA CCO NE
T ROBERT ZO C HOWSK I , J R
*NOT ADMITTED TO TH£ NEW YOR K BAR
December 13. 20 I0
Via Email and Federal Express
Gary J. Cohen, Esq.
I· inancial Crisis Inquiry Commission
1717 Pennsylvania A venue, N W, Suite 800
Washington. DC 20006-4614
Re:
Treatment of Confidential Materials
Dear Gary:
The: law Jinns of PauL Weiss, RilkincL Wharton & Garrison LLP, Latham &
LLP , and Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP have each represented
lktnschc Bank AG (''Deutsche Bank'') in connection with interviews or current and
former Deutsche Bank employees conducted by. or document productions made to, the
l'inancial Crisis Inquiry Commission (""JTJ C'). We understand that the I· CIC is
beginning lo Jinalize its written report, which could contain portions of these intcr v i~:ws,
and also is considering the wholesale disclosure on the FCIC's website of summaries.
ranscripls and/or audio tiles of these interviews, as well as other documents and data
produced b) Deutsche Bank. For the reasons stated below. we object lo tht: clisclusurl! of
<til) of these material s at this Lime.
\\'alkin~
I o dale, we IHt\·e recei ed letters from the FCIC indicating that it may sc~:k lo
d i'iL'lUSl: pori io ns. if not all, of the contents l) r lh~ confidential inlerviC\\ s 0 r M ich ucl
CONFIDENTIAL TREATMENT REQUESTED BY DEUTSCHE BANK AG
PAtJL, WEISS, RIFKIND, WHARTON & GARRISON LLP
Gary J. Cohen, Esq.
Lamont. Greg Lippmann, Patrick McKenna, and Eugene Xu. The FCIC conducted
additional conlidential interviews with Deutsche Bank personnel, regarding which we
have not recei ved such letters, namely: Michael Commaroto, Tom Devine, Da,·icJ
Rosenblum , Richard Rizzo, Neil Schneider, Vaughn Smith, and Joseph Swartz. It is our
understanding that the FCIC does not presently intend to use any portion of these
additional inter iews
With respect to the interviews in connection with which we received letters, \·V e
understand that, among other things, the FCIC is considering including quotations or
other excerpts Ji·om the interviews in its final written report. We contacted the FCIC staff
in an cl'fort to gain a more precise understanding of the FCIC's intentions, and the staff
indicated that it was not yet in a position to conlirm for us whether it intended to include
in its linal written report any such excerpts from these or any other interviews of
Deutsche Bank personnel. The staff committed to us in that call that, insofar as the FCJC
does seek to include any such excerpts, it will identify the relevant excerpts for us in
ad vance of publication so that we have a reasonable opportunity to provide additional
nrguments in favor of confidentiality .
We look forward to that opportunity. Indeed, there is a particular risk that the
release of the content of interviews without suflicient context or appropriate can::at
could cause unfair prejudice - particularly in light of the fact that inten ie\\ecs typical I~
did not re view records or other materials in advance of the interviews and relied instead
un their personal recollections and were often pressed to suppl) their subjective. personal
v1ews.
Although we welcome and appreciate the staffs commitment to allov. us an
opportunity to provide more detailed objections, we think it nevertheless important to
outline at this time our overall objection to the release or disclosure of the interviews or
current or former Deutsche Bank personnel - whether in the FCIC's report or on its
' cbsite. We believe any such release or disclosure would be contrary to the assurances
of confidentiality provided by FCIC staff >vvith respect to these interviews. would L nl~lirl)
prejudice Deutsche Bank and the individual interviewees, and i. unnecessary in light of
the existing procedure for dissemination of the FCIC's investigative materials through the
National Archives.
During our interactions over the past year, FCIC staff explicitly assured us that
the tape recordings of interviews would be afforded confidential treatment subject only to
the FCIC's conlidentiality protocol. Had we been informed that the J, CIC intended to
publicly disclose the content of these interviews, we would have tailored our approach to
the inkrviews accordingly, and may well h:.we insisted that additional procedures b~ put
in place. In sum, publication of any tape recordings, transcripts or summaries fl·om these
interviews would be unfair and inconsistent with the FCIC's past representations.
CONFIDENTIAL TREATMENT REQUESTED HY DEUTSCHE BANK AG
PAUL, WEISS, RIFKIND, WHARTON & GARRISON LLP
Gary .1. Cohen, Esq.
We do not object, however, to the National Archives' release of tape recordings,
transcripts or summaries of the FCIC's interviews with Deutsche Bank personnel alter 12
years, which would be consistent with the treatment of Executive Branch records stored
under the Presidential Records Act. At the very least, we believe that these materials
should not be released within the next 5 years, which is the length of time the FCI C has
indicated as the presumptive minimum period for protection of confidential materials .
.tbscnt an overriding public interest as determined by a majority vote of Commissioners
or b) joint agreement ofthe Chairman and Vice Chairman.
We do not at this time have reason to believe there is any such overriding public
interest in the immediate disclosure of any of the interview tape recordings, transcripts or
summaries. To the contrary, Deutsche Bank and the individual interviewees have
legitimate overlapping and distinct privacy interests weighing against immediate
publication: the interviews contain confidential information relating to the interviewees
thcmseh es, Deutsche Bank, and third pm1ies. 1 Moreover, much of this information
relates to. and could unfairly prejudice Deutsche Bank with respect to , pending or like!)
im·cstigations and litigation.
*
*
*
For all of the reasons set forth above, prior to any final decision being made
regarding the release of the tape recordings, transcripts, summaries or excepts of
interviews \\ ith any Deutsche Bank personnel, or any other Deutsche Bank materials
provided to the FCIC, we request an opportunity to discuss our concerns with you further.
Please contact Walter Ricciardi at Paul Wei sat 2 12-373-3350 with any
questions.
Walter Ricciardi
1
Similarly, much of the data and documents provided to the FCfC - both within the
context of witness interviews and without - is highly sensitive and proprietary. and
includes confidential business information that could cause unwarranted competiti ve
harm to Deutsche Bank and its shareholders.
CONFIDENTIAL TREATMENT REQUESTED BY DEUTSCHE BANK AG
PAUL, WEISS, RIFKIND, WHARTON & GARRISON LLP
Gary J. Cohen, Esq.
cc:
Richard Owens, Esq.
Latham & Watkins LLP
Dnn Gallagher, Esq .
Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP
Charlie Gambino, Esq.
Director and Counsel
Deutsche Bank AG New York
CONFIDENTIAL TREATMENT REQUESTED BY DEUTSCHE BANK AG
4
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