The American Bankers Association today joined other financial sector associations to release a guide for financial institutions in determining which data shared with federal regulators should be subject to heightened security standards, as the banking agencies recently announced new policies for handling such information.
Last week, the Federal Reserve, FDIC and Office of the Comptroller of the Currency announced a “coordinated approach” for handling sensitive information used in bank examinations, including a new pledge to notify banks about data breaches that threaten to expose that information. The guide provides a set of risk-based practices to assist supervised institutions in identifying sensitive data that should be subject to alternate sharing methods.
“When sensitive information is sent directly to regulators or indirectly via their agents or contractors, supervised institutions inevitably lose some degree of control over its security, management and retention,” the guide states. “Even with robust transfer protocols in place, once sensitive data leaves an institution’s environment, visibility into its handling and protection becomes limited.”
The practices outlined are intended to apply broadly to requests for information from examiners and others, according to the guide. “These practices are intended to facilitate constructive collaboration as the threat landscape continues to evolve, ensuring that data security remains a shared priority and a routine topic of discussion.”
