Starting on September 24th for three weeks, The Financial Banking Information Infrastructure Committee (FBIIC) and the Financial Services Sector Coordinating Council (FSSCC) is conducting a pandemic flu exercise for the US financial services sector. The exercise is sponsored by the US Department of the Treasury and the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (SIFMA).
The exercise is open to all members of the financial services industry in the US and is designed so that all sizes of financial services firms, representing all functions within the sector, and from all regions of the country will be able to participate. There will also be an advisory group of representatives from key sectors on which the financial services industry depends, such as power and telecommunications, as well as critical agencies such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
The stated objectives of this exercise are to enhance the understanding of systemic risks to the sector, to provide an opportunity for firms to test their pandemic plans and to examine how the effect of a pandemic flu on other critical infrastructures will impact the financial services sector. Participation in the exercise is voluntary and free of charge and the exercise will be conducted through a secure website with anonymity for all players.
The format will be that each week, first thing on Monday, a new scenario and set of questions will be released with responses to be received by 1700 EDT on the Wednesday. The Exercise Control Team will begin analysing these responses on Wednesday afternoons, meet on Thursdays and make final adjustments for the following week. A similar exercise was carried out in the UK in late 2006, (see CC News: Pandemic Risk – UK authorities report on bird flu exercise) and the FSSCC has said that the US plan will follow the same style, see (CC News: Pandemic Risk - US Financial Sector to test Pandemic Response Ability). Many multinational firms will have had the experience of taking part in both exercises.
Tomorrow is the closing date for registration with 1,850 institutions having registered so far. Applicants who have not already done so should go to the test’s portal to register to participate and to “play” in the exercise.
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