Government Urges Backup System For Nation's Financial System

The Federal Reserve, the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Office of Comptroller of the Currency released a paper to provide companies guidance on that front. Many companies since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on New York and Washington, have taken steps to improve their emergency backup systems.

The regulators, in their paper, said companies should have backup systems that are in different geographic locations than their main operations. And, these backup systems should not rely on same infrastructure - such as telecommunications, transportation, electric, water -- as their primary system, the regulators said.

Regulators didn't recommend that companies move their primary back-office operations out of metropolitan areas. And, the regulators didn't believe it was necessary to specify how far away the backup systems should be from the main systems.

Emergency systems should be routinely tested, and companies should strive to have a four-hour recovery time, regulators said.

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