For immediate release

The Federal Reserve Board today announced the issuance of supervisory guidance addressing how banking organizations should protect customer information against identity theft. Recommended steps to safeguard information include establishing procedures to verify the identity of individuals applying for financial products, preventing fraudulent address changes, and blocking pretext callers from using pieces of personal information to impersonate account holders and gain access to account information. Guidance is also provided on completing Suspicious Activity Reports that are filed by banking organizations with law enforcement agencies reporting offenses associated with identity theft and pretext calling. The guidance is consistent with the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, which directs the Board and other federal agencies to ensure that financial institutions have policies, procedures and controls in place to prevent the unauthorized disclosure of customer financial information and to deter and detect fraudulent access to such information. Supervisory letters are the Federal Reserve�s primary means of communicating key policy directives to its examiners, supervisory staff and the banking industry. The supervisory guidance is attached. Attachment

2001 Banking and consumer regulatory policy