USCA1 Opinion

      [NOT FOR PUBLICATION--NOT TO BE CITED AS PRECEDENT]

                 United States Court of Appeals

                     For the First Circuit











No. 98-1294



                      THEODORE F. NUBY, SR.,



                      Plaintiff, Appellant,



                                v.



                    SOUTH BOSTON SAVINGS BANK,



                       Defendant, Appellee.







           APPEAL FROM THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT



                FOR THE DISTRICT OF MASSACHUSETTS



          [Hon. Richard G. Stearns, U.S. District Judge]







                              Before

                                 

                      Selya, Circuit Judge,

                 Campbell, Senior Circuit Judge,

                   and Lynch, Circuit Judge.

                                

                                





     Theodore F. Nuby, Sr. on brief pro se.

     James E. Harvey, Jr., John F. Brosnan, and O'Malley and Harveyon brief for appellee.











September 23, 1998







                                

                                



                                                    Per Curiam.  Appellant Theodore Nuby appeals from the

    district court's judgment dismissing his action pursuant to 28

    U.S.C.  1915(e).  Appellee South Boston Savings Bank, however,

    argues that appellant's May 13, 1997 notice of appeal was filed

    too late to bring up for review the judgment of dismissal which

    was entered on the docket on January 6, 1997.  See Fed. R. App.

    P. 4(a)(1) (where the United States or an agency or officer

    thereof is not a party, a litigant has 30 days within which to

    file a notice of appeal).  We disagree and reach the merits of

    the dismissal.  See Fiore v. Washington County Community Mental

    Health Ctr., 960 F.2d 229 (1st Cir. 1992)(en banc).

              This action lacked an arguable legal basis and so we

    affirm.  Simply, the Right to Financial Privacy Act does not

    apply to appellant's situation because it pertains only to

    federal agencies.  See 12 U.S.C.  3401(3) (defining the kind

    of "government authority" subject to the Act's requirements as

    limited to "any agency or department of the United States, or

    any officer, employee, or agent thereof") (emphasis added). 

    Thus, requests for bank records by state agencies are not

    covered by the Act.  See In re Grand Jury Applications, 536

    N.Y.S.2d 939, 943 (N.Y. Sup. Ct. 1988) (the Act does not

    restrict access to bank records by state authorities); Nicholsv. Council on Judicial Complaints, 615 P.2d 280, 283 (Okla.

    1980) (only federal agencies are restricted by the requirements

    of the Act).  As a result, appellant has no cause of action

    against the South Boston Savings Bank (or, for that matter, the

    Massachusetts Department of Welfare) under the Act.

              The district court's judgment of dismissal is

    affirmed.