The original May 1, 2009 deadline has been extended to August 1, 2009. As outlined below, you must be Red Flags Compliant or face heavy penalties.

"New ‘Red Flag' Requirements for Financial Institutions and Creditors Will Help Fight Identity Theft
Identity thieves use people's personally identifying information to open new accounts and misuse existing accounts, creating havoc for consumers and businesses. Financial institutions and creditors are required to implement a program to detect, prevent, and mitigate instances of identity theft."

"The Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the federal bank regulatory agencies, and the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) have issued regulations (the Red Flags Rules) requiring financial institutions and creditors to develop and implement written identity theft prevention programs, as part of the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions (FACT) Act of 2003. The programs must be in place by May 1 2009, and must provide for the identification, detection, and response to patterns, practices, or specific activities - known as "red flags" - that could indicate identity theft."

"Who must comply with the Red Flags Rules?
The Red Flags Rules apply to "financial institutions" and "creditors" with "covered accounts."

"Under the Rules, a financial institution is defined as a state or national bank, a state or federal savings and loan association, a mutual savings bank, a state or federal credit union, or any other entity that holds a "transaction account" belonging to a consumer. Most of these institutions are regulated by the Federal bank regulatory agencies and the NCUA. Financial institutions under the FTC's jurisdiction include state-chartered credit unions and certain other entities that hold consumer transaction accounts."

Please refer to www.msicorp.redflagscompliant.com to find out how easy it is to become compliant.