FSSCC identifies critical concerns for financial infrastructure protection in 2005 In the report, ‘Protecting the US Critical Financial Infrastructure: An Agenda for 2005’, FSSCC emphasised its continued support, through the extended reach of its member firm network, of coordinated efforts to strengthen the resilience of the US financial system to potential disruptions such as terrorism, natural disasters or cyber attacks. The five critical issues identified in the agenda are: * Strengthening the financial system's core components by implementing the rigorous standards of the Interagency Sound Practices paper; * Creating a more structured and coordinated approach to testing efforts; * Promoting industry-wide standards for business continuity and resilience; * Expanding the membership of the Financial Services Information Sharing and Analysis Center (FS/ISAC), and outreach and education efforts; * Identifying and testing critical interdependencies between financial services and other sectors. "To one extent or another, all private sector organizations are working to strengthen their backup operations, test telecommunications networks, and simulate emergency events and crisis response," said Donald Donahue, sector coordinator and chairman of the FSSCC. "This 2005 action agenda further enhances these efforts by focusing energy and attention on the vital continuing issues, at both a regional and a national level." As one of the five critical issues, FSSCC is encouraging the affected financial services firms to complete their efforts to implement the rigorous standards of the Interagency Sound Practices paper issued by the Board of Governors of the US Federal Reserve System, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the US Securities and Exchange Commission in April 2003. While the Interagency paper focuses primarily on the recovery of critical clearing and settlement processes among certain firms, FSSCC members agreed that the knowledge developed by these firms as they comply with the paper can be of great benefit to a broader industry audience. "Affected firms are expected to complete their preparations to comply with the Interagency paper by the end of 2006," said Donahue. "We believe there is significant value in having these affected firms coordinate and share their 'suggested practices' and lessons learned with a wider audience of financial services sector firms." Another of the critical issues for 2005 involves industry efforts to test business continuity preparations. "Testing efforts are costly," noted Donahue, "so firms have to leverage the most effective approaches and focus on the most significant issues, rather than trying to test too much." A significant industry testing effort during the year will involve concurrent tests scheduled for mid-October, coordinated by the Futures Industry Association, the Securities Industry Association and The Bond Market Association, all FSSCC members. The 2005 Agenda, available on FSSCC.org, is intended to promote a dialogue between FSSCC, the financial services sector and the public sector counterparts - in cooperation with the financial services regulatory community and among the governmental agencies with responsibilities for homeland protection - on how these issues should be prioritised and how they should be pursued. FSSCC is planning a series of meetings in 2005 to galvanize support and build consensus on the action steps to fulfil the 2005 Agenda objectives. http://www.fsscc.org/reports/index.html
•Date: 6th April 2005 • Region: N.America •Type:
Article •Topic:
Financial sector |
