Pandemic Exercise Prompts Financial Sector Preparations

It’s been several months since the US Department of the Treasury, the Financial Services Sector Coordinating Council for Critical Infrastructure Protection and Homeland Security (FSSCC) and the Financial and Banking Information Infrastructure Committee (FBIIC) ran through their pandemic flu exercise. What were the results?

According to an article on the Bank News website, the organizations have now released the results, which show that while there may be significant impacts to the financial services sector during a pandemic outbreak, overall, the sector will continue to operate and cope with these impacts.

The report examines the industry’s plans during a pandemic outbreak, including provisions for telecommuting, stockpiling equipment and anti-virus medication and other continuity measures.

“The results of this report demonstrate the clear need for conducting this exercise,” Treasury deputy assistant secretary Valerie Abend told Bank News. “Even businesses that had pandemic plans in place found that a global avian flu outbreak poses complex issues and were able to identify areas where more work was needed.”

But that doesn’t mean the industry can start getting complacent, the report found. “The exercise identified a number of issues that can be addressed to further strengthen the sector’s resiliency,” George S. Hender, chairman of FSSCC, told the publication. “Each organization needs to look at the lessons learned from the exercise and incorporate the appropriate enhancements to their pandemic planning.”