Compliance Laws – The Financial Modernization Act of 1999

The Financial Modernization Act of 1999 (FMA 1999)

The Financial Service Modernization Act of 1999 (FMA 1999) became fully effective on July 1, 2001. The law applies to banks, brokerage firms, tax preparation companies, insurance companies, consumer credit reporting agencies and a wide variety of other financial services firms. Violations of the Financial Modernization Act of 1999 (FMA 1999) may result in a fine of up to $100,000 dollars and 5 years in jail. The primary focus of the Financial Modernization Act of 1999 (FMA 1999) is the protection of customer’s personal financial information.

• Section 6801 - Regulated organizations must insure the security and confidentiality of customer records and information.
• In Section 6801 the law requires that access to all customer records be carefully controlled to prevent substantial harm or inconvenience to any customer.
• Any storage location that contains sensitive customer information must be protected by strong access control and secure passwords.
• In Section 6801 (b)(1) companies must ensure that email messages are kept secure and encrypted when being transmitted over a link.
• Sensitive customer information must be protected in case of physical disaster or technological failure.

Athena Archiver assists companies in complying with The Financial Modernization Act of 1999 (FMA 1999) in the following ways:

• Allows companies to retain critical email for the required time period in a highly secure encrypted archive. We provide automatic verification of the quality and accuracy of the storage media recording process using CRC checks and cryptographic signatures.
• Administrators can carefully control access control through archive permissions and zero knowledge protocol which prevents sensitive passwords from being passed over the network.
• Ensures the integrity of an electronic message by encrypting it at all points during transmission and storage.

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