The Financial Services Sector Coordinating Council for Critical Infrastructure Protection and Homeland Security (FSSCC) have added the New York Board of Trade (NYBOT) and the CLS Group as the newest members the council.
NYBOT and CLS Group, the holding company for CLS Bank International, join 28 other financial services industry organizations and trade associations as members of the FSSCC.
“Not only do we need to be alert to the critical impact of domestic, cross-sector dependencies, but with the increasingly global nature of the markets, also international dependencies,” said Donald F. Donahue, Sector Coordinator and Chairman of the FSSCC. “Ensuring security and resiliency for the U.S. financial services industry does not end at our geographical borders. We welcome the participation and input of the CLS Group as the first overseas member of the council.”
“The CLS Group has a great depth of experience coordinating across domestic and international issues,” said Steve Howell, Chief Security Officer, CLS Group. “We look forward to being active participants in the FSSCC, working with the other member associations and firms to collaborate on safety and soundness across the global markets.”
“An important aspect of ensuring sector resilience involves thinking through how emergency situations can be addressed, so that as much planning as possible can be done in advance,” Donahue said. “The NYBOT, in particular, brings great experience in planning and practicing actions needed in emergency situations, and the sector members and I welcome the opportunity to learn from the best practices of this new member.”
The NYBOT lost its entire trading facility at 4 World Trade Center (WTC) in the September 11th terrorist attacks. However, because the exchange had long established a “hot” emergency backup facility in Queens, New York, after the 1993 bombing of the WTC, NYBOT was able to resume trading on September 17th. The NYBOT successfully operated out of this back-up facility for nearly two years before moving back downtown to new headquarters in the World Financial Center, in September 2003.
“We’ve learned that all the preparation that goes into that once-in-a-lifetime disaster makes coping with normal problems – fire, flood, severe weather, strikes or sustained power outages – that much more effective,” said Steve Bass, Chief Information Officer, NYBOT. “The NYBOT has been at the forefront of this effort, and we’re pleased to be working with the FSSCC to further coordinate industry-wide disaster recovery plans.”