2023 FTC Safeguards Rule affects Accountants!
Channel: Scott Scheidt
Date: 2023-09-29

In this video, I reference a consultation I had today with the owner of an accounting firm with less than 5 employees but with growth and expansion happening. She has an office here in Savannah, GA, and recently had to open another office in a city closer to new customers in another state. She reached out to us to understand how we might be able to help her with monitoring her computers that are local and ones in the other state that have client data on them. It was great to see a security-conscious owner in a highly critical sector have this concern. What she did not realize prior to our consultation was that as the owner of an Accounting firm, she was required to be compliant with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Safeguards Rules that had a compliance required date of June 09, 2023. 

The FTC Safeguards rule affects accountants and tax preparation firms as well as a host of other organizations that now meet the newly expanded definition of a “financial institution” under the FTC.
These rules apply to financial institutions subject to the FTC’s jurisdiction and that aren’t subject to the enforcement authority of another regulator under section 505 of the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, 15 U.S.C. § 6805. 

A “financial institution” if it is engaged in an activity that is “financial in nature” or is “incidental to such financial activities as described in section 4(k) of the Bank Holding Company Act of 1956, 12 U.S.C § 1843(k).”

The FTC Safeguards Rule Affects:
Mortgage Brokers | Mortgage Lenders
Payday loan | Wire Transferors | Check Cashing
Check Printers
Finance Companies
Collection Agencies
Credit Counselors
E-Commerce | List Developers
Financial Advisors
Accountants
Tax Preparers
Investment Advisors
Automotive Dealerships (To include Used Car Resale Dealerships)
Personal Property Appraiser | Real Estate Appraiser
Retailers that extend credit by issuing their own credit card

Federal Link to FTC Rules: www.ecfr.gov/current/title-16/chapter-I/subchapter-C/part-314 
Contact us at www.seimitsu.com/cybersecurity