The US’s Financial Services Sector Coordinating Council for Critical Infrastructure Protection and Homeland Security (FSSCC) announced last Friday in a press release that the US financial services industry would run a multi-week, sector-wide exercise starting September 24th to test its ability to respond to a pandemic.
This is the first time this will have been carried out in the USA (a similar exercise was carried out in the UK in late 2006, see Chase Cooper News, 18th January 2007). The exercise is sponsored by the US Treasury, the FSSCC, and the Financial and Banking Information Infrastructure Committee (FBIIC), and with the Securities Industry and Financial Management Association (SIFMA) managing the exercise.
Objectives include identifying systemic risk to the sector as a whole, providing participants with an opportunity to test their individual plans against a realistic scenario and clarifying the ripple knock-on effects in the financial markets. It is planned that all parts of the financial services industry will be represented, together with key suppliers such as power and telecommunications, as well as critical agencies such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The exercise is planned to allow sufficient time to simulate a full pandemic wave. Participants will take part in the exercise from their own locations using email and a secure exercise website.
"This unprecedented exercise will help prepare the financial services industry to respond in the best possible way to a pandemic event," said George S. Hender, Chairman of FSSCC. "Ensuring the financial sector can meet the challenge of all types of disruptions with minimal impact is critical to our nation."
The US statement acknowledges the previous UK exercise and says that the US plan will be similar. Many multinational firms will have the experience of taking part in both exercises.
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