US brings foreign banks into intelligence-sharing fold
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Loading... - Zander Lambros
- 11 Apr 2022
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US federal agencies are taking the unusual step of sharing intelligence with foreign banks to bolster defenses against potential cyberattacks in retaliation for unprecedented economic sanctions imposed on Russia, people familiar with the briefings say.
Officials generally notify U.S. companies of potential cyber threats, but tend to exclude companies headquartered in other countries, even if they have significant U.S. operations, regulators and industry sources said.
The cooperation with foreign banks underscores the collaboration between the US government and the global financial industry to enforce Western sanctions against Russia over its invasion of Ukraine and fend off potential retaliation from Moscow.
Briget Polichene, chief executive of the Institute of International Bankers, a Washington-based trade group that includes lenders like HSBC and Credit Suisse, said its “members are devoting all necessary resources to fully comply with U.S. sanctions imposed on the Russia”.
Foreign banks still didn’t have access to classified information, a lobbyist for a US arm of a major European bank has said, but US officials have been declassifying information at a rapid pace that people in the banking industry didn’t have. never seen before.
Federal agencies, including the Department of Homeland Security and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, held briefings with leaders last month. “Truly global” banks with a broad presence in the country were in the room for the first time, said an executive from a major US bank.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control held a briefing in late March for representatives of US subsidiaries of foreign banks, the agency told the Financial Times. The agency is generally “highly secretive” in terms of the information it shares with international banks, according to a person familiar with its modus operandi.
“The opportunity to meet with Ofac staff to better understand the various sanctions and their implications helps ensure compliance with the letter and spirit of these measures,” said Polichene of the IIB. Read More...
