Influenza Pandemic Preparedness: Interagency Advisory

The guidance attached to this bulletin continues to apply to federal savings associations.

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, and Office of Thrift Supervision have jointly issued the attached advisory on Influenza Pandemic Preparedness.

This advisory is intended to raise awareness regarding the threat of a pandemic influenza outbreak and its potential impact on the delivery of critical financial services. The advisory discusses the National Strategy for Pandemic Influenza and the roles and responsibilities of the federal government, private sector, and others. The National Strategy states that the "private sector should play an integral role in preparedness before a pandemic begins, and should be part of the national response." National banks and their technology service providers provide essential financial services and, as such, need to be engaged in related preparedness and response activities.

The agencies are alerting financial institutions of the need to appropriately consider and address events associated with this potential pandemic and similar threats in their event response and contingency strategies. The appendix to the advisory provides links to resources that can help national banks and their technology service providers in assessing risks associated with pandemic and similar events.

Please direct questions or comments regarding this advisory to the Bank Information Technology Division at (202) 874-4740.

Mark L. O'Dell
Deputy Comptroller for Operational Risk

Related Links

• Interagency Advisory