OPERATIONS NEWSFLASHES

'Business as Usual' in U.S. Financial Services Sector

Donald F. Donahue, sector coordinator for banking and finance and chairman of the Financial Services Sector Coordinating Council for Critical Infrastructure Protection and Homeland Security (a group of private sector firms and financial trade associations that works to help reinforce the sector's resilience and address sectorwide issues), stated in a press release that many of the institutions mentioned as possible terrorism targets, according to the Department of Homeland Security, are prepared for what might come. Donahue stated that the financial services institutions have undertaken "enormous" efforts to "strengthen their ability to protect their employees and continue to conduct business normally. [These efforts] have positioned them well for this environment of new threats and concerns."

"The Council, working closely with our partners in the Department of the Treasury and the Department of Homeland Security, has made steady progress in enhancing the quantity and quality of communication between the public and private sectors in support of these efforts." Donahue said. He also pointed out that clients of financial institutions should feel that their assets and private information are safe, and that the security of which is of the utmost importance to all of the corporations within the financial-services industry.

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