Sec. 489.215. INFORMATION CONFIDENTIAL. (a) Information described by Subsection (b) collected, assembled, or maintained by or for the bank is confidential and may not be disclosed by the bank, the board, the office, or the executive director of the office.

(b) This section applies to information in any form provided by or on behalf of an applicant for financing or a recipient of financing under this subchapter, including information contained in, accompanying, or derived from any application or report, that relates to a product, to the development, application, manufacture, or use of a product, or to the markets, market prospects, or marketing of a product and that is proprietary information of actual or potential commercial value to the applicant or recipient that has not been disclosed to the public. Confidential information includes scientific and technological information, including computer programs and software, and marketing and business operation information, regardless of whether the product to which the information relates is patentable or capable of being registered under copyright or trademark laws or has a potential for being sold, traded, or licensed for a fee. This section does not make confidential information in an account, voucher, or contract relating to the receipt or expenditure of public funds by the bank, board, or the department or its successor under this subchapter.

(c) Any application for financing that is withdrawn by the applicant before approval or funding or that is denied by the bank shall be returned to the applicant promptly on request, together with all materials submitted by or on behalf of the applicant that relate to the application, except that the bank may retain a record of the submission and disposition of the application that does not include any information described by Subsection (b).

Added by Acts 2003, 78th Leg., ch. 814, Sec. 2.01, eff. Sept. 1, 2003.