The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) on Wednesday jointly issued final rules to require financial institutions to protect investors from identity theft.

The SEC and the CFTC adopted the rules in accordance with the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010, requiring financial institutions to develop and implement a written identity theft prevention program designed to detect, prevent and mitigate identity theft in connection with certain existing accounts or the opening of new accounts.

"Under these rules, certain business regulated by the SEC and CFTC would be required to adopt and implement programs to detect and respond to indicators of possible identity theft," said SEC Chairman Mary Jo White, who was sworn in Wednesday morning as the 31st Chairman of the SEC.

White was nominated to head the SEC by President Barack Obama on Feb. 7 and confirmed by the U.S. Senate on April 8.

The final rules will become effective 30 days after publication in the Federal Register, and the compliance date will be six months after the effective date, the SEC said in a statement. Endi

Go to Forum >>0 Comment(s)