Confidentiality

(1) Except as provided in subsection (3) of this section or RCW 19.420.040, the attorney general may not make public or disclose: (a) A Hart-Scott-Rodino form filed under RCW 19.420.020; (b) The additional documentary material filed or provided under RCW 19.420.020; (c) A Hart-Scott-Rodino form or additional documentary material provided by the attorney general of another state; (d) That the form or the additional documentary material were filed or provided under RCW 19.420.020, or provided by the attorney general of another state; or(e) The merger proposed in the form. (2) A form, additional documentary material, and other information listed in subsection (1) of this section are exempt from public inspection and copying under chapter 42.56 RCW. (3) Subject to a protective order entered by an agency, court, or judicial officer, the attorney general may disclose a form, additional documentary material, or other information listed in subsection (1) of this section in an administrative proceeding or judicial action if the proposed merger is relevant to the proceeding or action. (4) This chapter does not: (a) Limit any other confidentiality or information-security obligation of the attorney general; (b) Preclude the attorney general from sharing information with the federal trade commission or the United States department of justice antitrust division, or a successor agency; or(c) Preclude the attorney general from sharing information with the attorney general of another state that has enacted the uniform antitrust premerger notification act or a substantively equivalent act. The other state's act must include confidentiality provisions at least as protective as the confidentiality provisions of the uniform antitrust premerger notification act.