Banking and Finance Sector-Specific Plan - U.S. Department of ...

Executive Summary
The Banking and Finance Sector accounts for more than 8 percent of the U.S. annual gross domestic product and is the backbone
for the world economy. As direct attacks and public statements by terrorist organizations demonstrate, the sector is a
high-value and symbolic target. Additionally, large-scale power outages, recent natural disasters, and a possible flu pandemic
demonstrate the wide range of potential threats facing the sector. With this understanding, financial regulators and private
sector owners and operators work collaboratively to maintain a high degree of resilience in the face of a myriad of potential
disasters, be they intentional or unintentional, manmade or natural. This collaboration has led to a comprehensive framework
for a strong public-private sector partnership. This partnership has developed several programs that currently provide protection
and crisis management, which are continuously improving.
Working through this public-private partnership, the Department of the Treasury, as the Sector-Specific Agency (SSA) for the
Banking and Finance Sector, has developed this Sector-Specific Plan (SSP) in close collaboration with the Financial and Banking
Information Infrastructure Committee (FBIIC) and the Financial Services Sector Coordinating Council for Critical Infrastructure
Protection and Homeland Security (FSSCC). This SSP, along with the SSPs from the 16 other critical infrastructures identified
in Homeland Security Presidential Directive 7 (HSPD-7), are part of the overall National Infrastructure Protection Plan (NIPP).
This SSP contains the Banking and Finance Sector’s strategy for working collaboratively with public and private sector partners
to identify, prioritize, and coordinate the protection of critical infrastructure. This SSP also summarizes the extensive activities
the sector has undertaken already to reduce vulnerabilities and share information.
1. Sector Profile and Goals
The Banking and Finance SSP provides a description of the complex nature of the sector and an overview of the sector’s provision
of products and services, which are: (1) deposit, consumer credit, and payment systems; (2) credit and liquidity products;
(3) investment products; and (4) risk-transfer products (including insurance).
Essential to this sector overview is a description of the Federal and State regulatory authorities as well as self-regulatory organizations.
The Banking and Finance Sector is highly regulated with regulators providing oversight and, in some cases, guidance
to and examinations of the financial institutions within their statutory purview. The financial regulators work together through
the FBIIC to coordinate efforts with respect to critical infrastructure protection issues. In October 2001, the President established
the FBIIC. The President’s Working Group on Financial Markets currently sponsors the FBIIC, which is chaired by the
Treasury Department’s Assistant Secretary for Financial Institutions.
The private sector pillar of the security partnership is organized through the FSSCC, the Financial Services Information Sharing
and Analysis Center (FS-ISAC), and the regional coalitions, which all promote voluntary information sharing efforts throughout
the sector. The FSSCC membership is comprised of individual institutions, trade associations, and regional coalitions.
Executive Summary