Most Find Faults in Pandemic-Related Business Continuity Plans

WASHINGTON -- After a three-week, voluntary pandemic flu exercise hosted by the Treasury Department and others, most of the more than 2,700 participants realized gaps in their continuity plans.

The Financial Banking Information Infrastructure Committee (FBIIC) and the Financial Services Sector Coordinating Council (FSSCC) conducted a pandemic flu exercise for the financial services sector in the United States from Sept. 24 through Oct. 12. The bulk of the 2,775 participants, 62%, were banks and credit unions. Among the other participants were securities firms, insurance companies, regulators and others. The vast majority had less than 250 employees and under $100 million in revenue.

"The strong public-private coordination on this exercise allowed us to reach more institutions than we ever expected," Treasury Deputy Assistant Secretary for Critical Infrastructure Protection Valerie Abend said. "And by allowing almost all participants to find critical gaps in their planning, this exercise was an unquestionable success in helping the industry prepare for such a crisis."

The exercise simulated a pandemic wave with a peak absenteeism rate of 49%. It examined a number of issues including human resources, continuity of operations, and dependencies on other sectors such as transportation, energy and telecommunications.

Of the participants, 63.9% had response plans but 58% said they did not have specific human resources policies and plans to meet employee needs during a pandemic. Most (56.2%) found their plans to be "moderately" effective while 3.8% said they were "not at all" effective and 11.7% said they were "very" effective. A full 91.1% said they would revise their plans based on their findings after the exercise.

More detailed results will be available in the coming months.